Dangerous Allies
by Maiika
Summary: A/U, which is basically a DBZ "The Departed", though the plot is much different. A powerful criminal with an undercover detective in his crew decides to rip off a crime boss who is a prime target for the detective. The Prince has moles in the police force. The boss is a deadly adversary. Personal issues complicate things further. K/18, V/B, G/CC, references to G/V. Lemons, OOC
1. A New Heist

A charming blue two-story mansion sat on a tree-lined street. This wide street was consistently lined by parked cars as well. There were many people living inside, everyone knew that. What the surrounding neighbors did not realize was that this polished house was a pretty front for unwholesome businesses.

A handsome young man, in his late twenties, muscular and tall with spiked black hair emerged from one of the cars parked on the street, hurriedly walking up the steps leading into this mansion. Inside, the place was well-manicured and beautifully decorated. Of course, the woman who ran the place would never settle for anything less than gorgeous inside, though she was limited to keeping the expense of her décor down to avoid any unnecessary attention. A fault about which she was constantly at odds with the owner. The man was greeted as he walked in by the beautiful feminine figures sitting in luxurious lounge chairs and sofas, as well as the two people in charge of keeping this house running for one of its businesses.

"Welcome, sir. May I take your coat?" A burly, bearded gentleman asked, taking the man's coat as he shrugged it off and handed it to him. The brawny man smiled nervously at the visitor and walked off with the coat draped over his arm. He kept his interactions with Vegeta's business associates to a minimum, a wise decision on his part.

"Kakarot, it's so nice to see you again." A beautiful woman said as she sauntered down the stairs elegantly and gazed upon the man that entered her establishment. She approached him and gave him two quick kisses on the cheeks. He grabbed her hands in welcome and pulled back, smiling at her.

"Bulma, how are you?" He asked politely, though Bulma frowned understandingly at the haste in his voice. He couldn't bother with formalities right now, not when he has been summoned by The Prince, as Bulma knew. Bulma was ready to rush him along when Kakarot was approached by another woman who had been lounging on the sofa when he arrived.

"Kakarot, here to see me?" She asked him seductively, wrapping her arms around his waist as she approached him from behind. Her perfume had wafted into his nose when she swung her arms around him, and he regretted that she was not who he had come for, not this time. Kakarot turned to smile at the beautiful black-haired woman, gently freeing himself from her arms.

"Business first, Chi-Chi. Maybe later." He told her, winking at her as he proceeded to the back stairs of the mansion, leading to where the offices were held in the basement. Chi-Chi frowned disappointedly at Bulma as he left, who shrugged back at the woman disinterestedly.

"The Prince called him a few minutes ago, asked him to come here, Chi-Chi." Bulma explained. Chi-Chi immediately backed down, fully understanding now. It was rare for Kakarot to reject her, but no one kept Vegeta waiting when they were called upon, unless they were masochists who reveled in their own pain.

Kakarot stopped in his tracks when he spotted a small red ball on the basement steps. He picked it up, then looked around suspiciously. He peeked into a few dark corners at the bottom of the stairs, smiling mischievously when he finally found what he was seeking under a small table. He approached the table quietly. "Boo!" He yelled, scaring the four-year old boy who jumped enough to shake the table he was under. Kakarot grimaced, regretting scaring the boy as he hit his head on the table. Kakarot held out a hand, helping the boy crawl out without further injury. "What are you doing down here, Gohan? You know you don't belong down here. Your mother would have a fit!" Kakarot scolded quietly, hoping Vegeta wouldn't hear. Gohan frowned, looking down at his shoes. Kakarot handed him the ball. "Here, I think this is yours." He said as Gohan accepted the ball and smiled shyly up at Kakarot. "You better get back up there right now!" Kakarot hissed in mock anger, pointing his finger up the stairs and laughing as Gohan jumped and ran with a yelp, stumbling up the stairs to his mother adorably.

Kakarot continued just a few feet down the hall, knocking on the door where he always met with Vegeta. He knew Vegeta was waiting for him, but the knock was a formality that couldn't be skipped. "Come in." He heard after a moment, and he entered the room hesitantly, casting a look around as he half-expected to be assaulted every time he entered this room. "Took you long enough." The brooding figure sitting in the chair grumbled. The spacious office was dark, just barely lit aside from the bright desk lamp lighting the documents the beady black eyes of the boss were examining. The furnishings in this room were all dark cherry and ornate, with deep red walls and an oriental rug in navy and white. The notorious criminal definitely kept his office befitting of his nickname. This is the way one would expect the office of The Prince to appear.

"Sorry, Vegeta." Kakarot said as he took his seat in front of the desk, like always. "I ran into Gohan upstairs." Kakarot lied, protecting the kid from the punishment he, or possibly his mother, was sure to endure for his presence down here which was strictly forbidden by The Prince. Vegeta frowned judgmentally at Kakarot.

"What is it with you and that kid? You don't see me wasting time dealing with that whore's kid, even if she claims it's mine." Kakarot frowned, thinking of that other poor boy. Bulma's son. He was definitely Vegeta's, everyone knew it; the kid was a teenager now and had a face exactly like Vegeta's. But he refused to admit it, to the teen and Bulma's dismay. "He's not even yours." Vegeta scoffed at Kakarot as he walked around to the front of the desk, leaning against it as he stood just inches from him. Kakarot shrugged.

"I know. But I like the kid." Kakarot defended, hoping Vegeta wouldn't perceive his caring as a weakness. He probably did. Vegeta saw weakness in just about everyone but himself. Vegeta crossed his arms, then frowned thoughtfully. Now he'd reveal what this business was all about.

"Vegeta!" They heard as the door barged open, interrupting them. Vegeta immediately stepped towards the door hostilely, raising his closed fist as a threat. The intruder immediately backed down, partly closing the door as if it were a shield. "S-s-sorry, Vegeta! I didn't know you were in a meeting." He said as he ducked his big, bald head through the doorway.

"How many times do I have to tell you!? You always knock when that door is closed, Nappa, you imbecile!" Vegeta yelled angrily. "Is there some sort of emergency?" Vegeta questioned, sounding more like an accusation than a query with the tone he used.

"N-no. I'm sorry." Nappa repeated, giving a slight bow and worried expression to Vegeta. "I'll come back later." Nappa swiftly shut the door and walked away as Vegeta shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Kakarot stayed silent, waiting for Vegeta to stifle his anger before daring to speak. This was not a good beginning to their conversation if Vegeta was angry before he even started. Without removing his hand or opening his eyes, Vegeta began speaking.

"I have an opportunity, Kakarot. _We_ have an opportunity." Vegeta clarified as he opened his eyes and placed both hands on the desk behind him. "Ten million dollars." Vegeta said pointedly, watching Kakarot for a reaction. Kakarot's mouth dropped, but he remained speechless and hesitant to react. He was waiting for the catch. Vegeta smirked, this is one reason Kakarot was good for his crew. "Only problem is, it's in Frieza's possession right now." Vegeta added, waiting again for the reaction as he dropped the bomb. Kakarot frowned, looking at Vegeta suspiciously. When he realized Vegeta was serious, he balked at the suggestion.

"Frieza?" Kakarot asked skeptically. "You want to steal ten million dollars from Frieza?" Vegeta nodded calmly. "He really exists? I thought the guy was just a legend or something." Kakarot conjectured, causing Vegeta to laugh at him. He did know exactly who Frieza was, but someone in Kakarot's occupation, working under Vegeta, should not know of anything beyond the rumors.

"No, not a legend. He's just very evasive, very good at what he does." Vegeta said with certainty. "He dealt with my father, before I took over the business. I refused to deal with the man, and his business has been at odds with mine since. I've had enough of skirting around him, I'm tired of competing with the Ice Empire. If I steal 10mil from him, it'll be his downfall." Vegeta said proudly, crossing his arms and smiling. Kakarot wrung his hands together nervously, stopping himself before Vegeta noticed. He stood from his seat and began pacing.

"How do you plan to do this?" Kakarot asked carefully.

"I have an insider in Frieza's gang. He will do his part, supplying us with passwords and fingerprints necessary to infiltrate the facility housing Frieza's stash. Bulma will hack into his computer systems for us; at least the woman is good for that." Vegeta remarked snidely.

"So what are _we_ doing?" Kakarot asked pointedly as he continued to pace. Vegeta placed his hand on Kakarot's shoulder, stilling him as he passed. The gentle touch froze Kakarot on the spot as he felt his nerve falter at the contact, and he looked at Vegeta warily. Vegeta slowly ran his hand down Kakarot's back and returned it to his side, smirking at the other man's reaction.

"The usual. Kill a few men, run in, grab the money, get out without getting killed." Vegeta rattled off the dangerous tasks as if they were an everyday walk in the park. Of course, ever since Kakarot started working for Vegeta nearly a year ago, this had been at least a weekly occurrence. Kakarot nodded slowly, deep in thought.

"If the Ice Empire is so impenetrable, what makes you think we have a chance?" Kakarot asked skeptically.

"This is me we're talking about, Kakarot. I never lose, and neither do you. With Nappa, Radditz and Brolly's help, this should be a piece of cake. Just leave the details to me." Kakarot nodded as he felt a knot in his stomach, both from nerves and excitement. He began to leave the room, stopping when Vegeta called one last thing to him. "Kakarot. Make sure no one follows you when you leave here, and check your place for bugs. I've been informed by one of my men that the cops have been very interested in our activities lately." Kakarot took a deep breath as he left the room. Nappa had been watching from down the hall and quickly ran inside the room while the door was still open. Kakarot also caught sight of Brolly down the hall, staring at him as usual. He couldn't figure what he'd done to rub the other man wrong, but Brolly had a serious problem with Kakarot, nearly getting him killed on a few jobs. Kakarot wished they could leave Brolly out of this one; it was already incredibly dangerous without Brolly's instability.

Kakarot quickly left through the front door, breezing past the women and Hercule as he grabbed his coat and they watched him leave, glad that he did not run into Chi-Chi. She was probably busy punishing Gohan upstairs. He was in no mood for her attentions right now, and he needed to share this new information with Krillin as soon as possible.


	2. Questioning

A/N: The characters named Lapis and Lazuli are introduced in this chapter. For those of you who might not know the names, they are the human names of 17 and 18 before they were androids. I decided to use those rather than 17/18 or juuhachi/juunana.

Questioning

"Yes, yes, V. I'll get back to you soon, gotta go." A beautiful blond spoke in hushed tones into her phone, looking over her shoulder and speaking in a rush as her partner approached.

"Lazuli, you ready to go?" Her new partner smiled charmingly at her, something she had never seen from a partner before. Sure, they gave the perverted ogling and the seductive smiles, but this charming thing was definitely new. Lazuli smiled back, working her partner and keeping appearances as a dutiful detective. There was no way they'd ever suspect _her_ here. After all, she had an excellent record as a detective and no criminal past, at least not on paper.

"Okay, Krillin." She said with a smirk as she tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. She followed her partner, watching his back as she thought about the little man. She had been transferred to this department, joining her twin brother, Lapis, just recently. She was assigned to this cop as his partner, and he seemed very excited about having been assigned to her. Apparently his long-time partner had been out on undercover duty for nearly a year, and she intended to find out more about that for Vegeta. "So, why didn't you request a new partner sooner?" Lazuli asked with a flirtatious tone that always had the men talking.

"A new partner? I don't know. Well, I do." Krillin answered indecisively as he waited a beat for Lazuli's footsteps to catch up to his own and they could walk side by side to their car. "We thought Go-, I mean, my partner would be undercover only for a few months, but it didn't start off smoothly, so I was sorta waiting for him to get back." Krillin explained, rubbing his head sheepishly. He had almost said the name of the undercover cop, and Lazuli sighed in frustration at the near discovery. At least she had a partial name now, and knew it was a man.

"Do you miss your partner?" Lazuli asked, and noticed Krillin looking up at her, surprised with the question. She smiled warmly back at the shorter man. "My brother and I were partners for a long time." Lazuli explained as Krillin's face changed to an expression of understanding. "I miss working with him."

"Hey, he's still in the same department!" Krillin exclaimed with a laugh, placing his hand amicably on Lazuli's arm. Lazuli smiled at him. This guy was actually nice. Speak of the devil. A dark-haired man with ice-blue eyes just like Lazuli's came walking down the hall chatting with his partner, passing them as Lazuli winked at her brother in passing. At least she knew if she came up empty handed here, Lapis would find something. They were being paid very well by Vegeta, and if they didn't produce some good information for him, he would not be forgiving.

"Krillin! Lazuli!" They heard from an open door of an office as they passed, and the partners halted their steps to address the Captain.

"Yes, Captain?" Krillin asked the short, hefty, bald fish-faced man. He was certainly not impressive to look at, but looks could be deceiving. Lazuli knew better than to judge people by their appearances; hell, she was a walking example of this. And the man certainly seemed to know a hell of a lot of information about criminals on the street. Lazuli felt fortunate that she had no criminal record, because with this captain, her history would play against her for sure.

"Lazuli, there's a robbery in progress at that bank on 59th street again. I told them I'd send someone from our department to check it out. Krillin will catch up with you." Captain Kaio ordered. Lazuli frowned inwardly, but forced herself not to show it as Krillin shut the door at Kaio's gesture when she left the room. She hesitated just outside the room for a moment, hoping to overhear something useful.

"Is this about Goku?" She heard Krillin ask loudly. She smiled. Yes, this was definitely a great partner she was assigned.

"Shut up, Krillin!" She heard Kaio order, and the conversation was suddenly hushed to the point where no more information could be gleaned. If Krillin were as tight-lipped as Captain Kaio, Lazuli would be screwed. Lazuli headed to her car to do as she was told, taking a mental note of the name 'Goku'.

A few hours and panicked bank customers and tellers later, Lazuli returned to the station to find Krillin looking like he took a bad beating. He was seated outside the captain's office with an ice pack on his swollen eye, and seemed to be resting an injured knee as he had it elevated on the chair next to him and cringed in pain with the slightest movement of it. Lazuli took the seat to his other side, unable to help smirking at Krillin's discomfort as she found it mildly entertaining.

* * *

Kakarot sat in handcuffs, facing the stern D.A. and nervous police captain. "Are you two trying to get me killed?!" He hissed exasperatedly. The tall, green-suited D.A. rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, while the captain's expression was one of a scolding parent.

"Goku, did you really need to do that to Krillin?" Kaio asked him. Goku shot him a disbelieving glare.

"Yes!" He hissed as he slammed his fists on the desk. "Vegeta has people here; he knows you're watching the Saiyajin. How will I explain getting arrested at a time like this? If I let him take me in, they'd know who I am." Goku exclaimed loudly in frustration.

"Goku, keep your voice down." The D.A. reprimanded calmly as he gripped the chair in front of Goku with both hands.

"Fine, Piccolo. Just get me out of here right now before Vegeta's mole spots me, or I'm a dead man and a year of work goes down the toilet." Goku responded with a note of desperation as he stood from his seat.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Lazuli asked Krillin as a snicker escaped her lips, despite her attempt to suppress it. Krillin glared at her, not at all amused.

"Isn't it obvious? I got hurt taking down a suspect." Lazuli smiled.

"Looks like he took you down. Did he get away?" Lazuli asked with outright amusement.

"No. He's in there, talking to the D.A." Krillin replied petulantly. Lazuli looked towards the interrogation room Krillin had nodded towards with interest, then turned to Krillin to find him looking regretful for mentioning that.

"What'd he do?" Lazuli asked coolly as she crossed her arms and legs and leaned back in her chair. "Is it our bank robber?" Krillin smiled in relief.

"Yeah. Yeah." He answered too gleefully. "I'm pretty sure he's the guy who robbed the bank. But I think he's talking out a deal right now." Krillin grumbled with a scowl as he looked towards the door to the interrogation room. Lazuli rubbed Krillin's leg comfortingly.

"Hope you recover soon, partner." She said with a smile as she rose from her seat, heading for the interrogation room as she overheard yelling from there.

* * *

Goku watched Piccolo and Kaio expectantly, getting frustrated when they hesitated for too long. He kicked the table angrily. "Get me out now!" He yelled.

"Okay!" Kaio snapped to attention at the demand and hesitantly opened the door, checking to see if Goku could escape unseen. "I'll have Roshi come to you first thing tomorrow morning; he can relay our messages from now on." Kaio answered, stepping back from the door as he realized it was the perfect moment to leave. Goku snorted in annoyance, though there was no time to argue. He had been avoiding his meetings with the psychiatrist, and now he'd have to face him in order to relay his urgent messages. Kaio trapped him, and he knew it. Damn insightful mothering captain. Goku darted out of the room as soon as Kaio released him from the handcuffs.

* * *

"Lazuli!" She turned to the voice, stopping her a few feet from the room, as she scowled at her brother.

"What do you want? I was just onto something!" She hissed through clenched teeth as her brother came closer.

"Bitch." Lapis responded with a smirk. "V needs to see us tonight. We're meeting 2am." Lapis whispered carefully as his partner passed by and Lapis carefully smiled and nodded at Yamcha.

* * *

Goku hustled through the hall with his head down, hoping to remain unrecognized as he overheard whispering from the two people lurking outside the interrogation room. He was seen by one person, but fortunately it was a trustworthy friend. Goku put a finger to his mouth in a gesture to keep quiet, which seemed to work as Yamcha eyed him carefully and nodded silently while Goku exited the building with a sigh of relief.

* * *

Lazuli confirmed the meeting with Vegeta and her brother and turned back to the interrogation room, disappointed to find the door open and the room already vacated. She stepped inside, noting that the other door was open as well, and decided to step through it to see if she could find the D.A. or the suspect. She noticed the D.A. far down the hall, his back to her as he walked and talked with Kaio. She quickly caught up and tried to eavesdrop, but it was no use. She could only tell by the inflections in their voices that they seemed concerned about something.

* * *

"Bulma..." Vegeta sighed contently as she climbed on top of him in the bed, kissing his neck and chest and applying expert caresses to his body that she had learned through years of prostitution, and years of being Vegeta's favorite girl. Bulma smiled as she kissed his lips, moaning as he grabbed her waist and guided her hips over his and ground his hardened erection between her legs. Bulma slid her satiny pink robe off her shoulders, untying the sash to reveal her naked body to Vegeta.

Vegeta took in the sight of her before sliding his waistband down a few inches, Bulma lifting her hips and assisting him in removing the imposing pajama pants so they could rub their naked bodies together, enjoying the friction and the warmth.

Vegeta sat up and placed his lips on Bulma's left nipple, swirling his tongue around it and then sucking until he drew a breathy gasp from the woman. Bulma shifted over Vegeta's erection, settling down onto his thick shaft with a moan as Vegeta's breath picked up and he lay back, raising his hips into her at a steady pace. Eventually the pace increased as Bulma gyrated her hips with his thrusts, rubbing her clit against him until she came loudly, and Vegeta immediately followed. She collapsed on him, pulling her robes back over her shoulders as she climbed off of him and headed into the bathroom. Bulma emerged from the bathroom and headed to the desk in her bedroom, getting straight to work on something without another word. It was always business with that woman.

"What are you doing?" Vegeta asked groggily, lying on the bed as he wiggled back into his pants.

"I have to sign these forms for Trunks, they're for school." Bulma explained as she placed the pen down and proceeded to place the forms in an envelope.

"Your son was pestering me again today." Vegeta complained, and Bulma immediately slammed the envelope on the desk loudly, turning around in a huff.

"You know, he's your son, too! You could try giving him a little attention, Vegeta. Or at least acknowledge him." Bulma crossed her arms and glared angrily at Vegeta, though he had trouble finding her anything but sexy in that satin robe with nothing underneath. If he could only get her to shut that mouth of hers. Maybe if he ignored her arguments...

"So tomorrow, you and Satan will run this place alone in the evening. The men and I have work to do." Bulma was prepared to continue the paternity argument, but this new information temporarily succeeded in distracting her as she gasped and sat in the chair at the desk.

"You mean, no men besides Hercule? What if some thug comes here looking for you or some guy gets rough with one of my girls?" Bulma frowned with worry and Vegeta quickly sat up in the bed.

"That's what you pay Satan for. He claims to be capable of fighting." Vegeta said with a lack of conviction.

"I'm not sure he can back up that claim." Bulma echoed the sentiment as she stood and headed to the bed. "I guess I could make sure Trunks is here." Bulma said with a smirk, sitting next to Vegeta. "He's learned more from the old man than you realize." That woman, always taunting, always feisty. "So what's the job? Does it have anything to do with this thing you wanted me to hack into?" Bulma asked as she grabbed Vegeta's hand in hers, caressing his fingers.

"Yeah, we're casing the place. I'll go over the details with Kakarot, he'll be in charge of the planning for the break-in." Vegeta said as he observed Bulma carefully, noting an uncomfortable edge about her.

"Kakarot in charge, huh?" Bulma asked doubtfully. "I still don't trust him." Vegeta scowled at Bulma.

"Are you still going on about that?"

"Vegeta, he betrayed you once." Bulma answered adamantly.

"Bulma." Vegeta said as he grabbed Bulma's chin and lifted it to look her in the eyes. "You know I had Brolly and Nappa take care of him for that. And I refused to let him work for me after." Bulma grabbed Vegeta's wrist and pulled his hand from her chin forcefully.

"What I still don't understand is why you let him come back!" She responded.

"Kakarot...proved his loyalty to me." Vegeta answered, looking away from Bulma evasively as she let out a long sigh.

"That's what you always say. Will you finally tell me exactly what it is he did for you?" Bulma pleaded.

"It's none of your business, woman! That's between me and Kakarot!" Vegeta's defensive reaction was surprising to Bulma, and seeing her reaction made him calm himself. "I can trust him with my life and that's hard to find these days." Vegeta assured Bulma as he grabbed her chin again gently, pulling her lips up to his for a kiss. Bulma hesitated, but kissed him back after a moment, feeling comforted enough by Vegeta's conviction and confidence.


	3. Deception

Goku ate breakfast and headed to the bathroom, getting ready for the day and making an effort to keep his mind busy with other things as he waited for the arrival of Roshi. The idea of talking to the man was unnerving, a lousy requirement of doing undercover work in Goku's opinion. Plus, he knew what Roshi would want to discuss, and that was not something Goku was willing to talk about. About thirty minutes later, Goku was disturbed from his thoughts when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He took a wavering breath, then announced, "Come in."

A white-bearded old man walked into the room, dressed in casual beachwear and sandals. Goku couldn't help smiling at the old man in spite of himself. Before the issue with Vegeta, Goku enjoyed talking to the counselor; he had known the guy since his days as a rookie cop. At least he could start off now with the part of this meeting with which he was comfortable.

"Hey, Roshi! How are you?" Goku said cheerfully with a hint of edginess as he stood up and gave the old man a pat on the back.

"Very good…Kakarot." Roshi answered with a wink. He knew better than to address Goku by his real name here, Vegeta and his crew knew where Goku was living, and it was important that the homeowner never hear the name Goku. Roshi was obviously not comfortable using his alias, though, as he chuckled and sat himself down in a comfortable chair in Goku's room.

"I have messages for the captain. He and Piccolo told me you'd relay messages for me." Goku stated to Roshi seriously, all cheerfulness gone from his voice. Roshi nodded with a stern expression, his cheerfulness dissipated as well.

"I have a message for you as well, Gg-Kakarot." Roshi responded with a shake of his head at his near slip. Goku frowned in wonder. Of course, that explains the attempt to bring him in for questioning yesterday. They must have had something important to tell him.

"Mine first." Goku said with a smug smile. "Vegeta's planning on ripping off Frieza."

"Frieza?!" Roshi shouted in disbelief as he jumped from his seat.

"Will you keep it down?" Goku asked harshly. Roshi gave an apologetic expression as he seated himself again. "Yes. Tell them…" Goku sighed; he didn't know how they'd take this, especially Piccolo. Piccolo had wanted to put away Vegeta for a long time now. He wished he was talking directly to them right now so he could get an immediate response.

"Tell them I want to go after Frieza." Goku said with a note of excitement to his voice. "We have enough evidence on Vegeta now to put him away, but I don't want to do that now, not if we can get Frieza. We don't arrest Vegeta or anyone on his crew. I keep my cover and go on this heist with Vegeta, and we'll be able to put Frieza away when he retaliates." Roshi gave Goku a disbelieving look, and Goku frowned at him in understanding. "He will retaliate." Goku said confidently. "Vegeta is in over his head on this one. He'd get himself killed stealing from Frieza if I weren't involved in this." Roshi frowned, then nodded in resignation.

"Alright, my turn." Roshi agreed, clasping his hands together as he leaned forward to talk. "Let's talk about that incident with Vegeta." Goku frowned in revolt; he had been expecting the message from Piccolo or the captain, not therapy questions already. And Roshi dropped a bomb with that question. "I know you don't want to, but you have to. It's been almost a year, and I've been giving you your space, but now you've had your space. Now you need to talk." Goku sighed and rubbed his head.

"Just give me the captain's message, Roshi." He demanded. The old man stayed stern, crossing his arms and shaking his head at Goku.

"Not until we talk." Goku turned his gaze to the ground, staring down as he debated how he would get through this conversation. He needed that information, and knew the old man was solid in his decision not to give it. He took a deep breath.

"It was the most disgraceful thing I've ever done." Goku admitted quietly, not looking up at Roshi. Roshi nodded slowly, though he knew Goku couldn't see him at the moment. "Was it wrong? I was willing to do whatever it takes to regain my cover, to make Vegeta trust me." Goku let out a heavy sigh, trembling inside as the unpleasant memory resurfaced.

"It worked, didn't it?" Roshi asked emphatically, surprising Goku as he whipped his head up to gauge Roshi's expression. To his surprise, Roshi wore an encouraging expression on his face. "You can't judge yourself based on what's normal, Guh…. Anyways, people in your line of work have to do things that most people find despicable in order to do their job well, and avoid getting themselves or innocent people killed."

"Yeah, but that? What I did, I never thought my undercover work would involve _that_, at least not with a man." Goku responded with an involuntary shudder. "I could have found some other way back in, but that's what I decided to do." Roshi smiled sympathetically at Goku and reached out his hand, patting the other man on the shoulder in support.

"Some other way like what?" Roshi questioned rhetorically as he raised his eyebrows over his large sunglasses. "You aren't alone. I've talked to lots of undercovers who have been through similar circumstances. I'm just proud of you for talking to me. I'll stop torturing you now." Roshi conceded as Goku breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Alright, Kaio's message." Roshi said, clapping his hands on his thighs. "You'll never believe who walked into the station with information on Vegeta." Roshi said with a smile, annoying Goku as he actually waited for a guess.

"Who?" Goku drawled impatiently.

"Trunks Briefs."

"The kid?" Goku asked in disbelief.

"Yep. He's the one. Apparently he knows a lot of stuff we've never heard of before, and Kaio's got him acting as an informant now."

"No! No, I don't think that's a good idea." Goku responded vehemently as he stood from his seat and started pacing anxiously. "I already told them Vegeta has a mole, and we don't know who it is. Talking to Trunks only puts him in danger, and we don't need him. I have plenty of information." Goku insisted.

"Piccolo said you'd say that. He said to tell you they are keeping Trunks' meetings very confidential, a one-on-one with Krillin at discreet locations, no one else but Krillin, Piccolo and the Captain will know." Goku opened his mouth to argue, and Roshi quickly held up a palm to stop him so he could continue as he knew what Goku's next argument would be. "Did you know that Frieza and Cold are meeting with Vegeta for dinner tomorrow night?" Roshi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How…why would he…?" Goku began in confusion.

"Vegeta's son told them about that. He knows things you don't. Apparently Trunks is going with him, a father-son thing between enemies or something like that." Now Goku was completely confused. Everyone, including Vegeta knew that Trunks was his son, but Vegeta stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. Now he was not only admitting it to his enemies, but putting his son in danger by bringing him to a meeting with them? Why would Vegeta have a meeting with Frieza while planning to steal from him? Goku frowned again, looking at Roshi with determination.

"That information might be helpful, but it's still not worth putting the boy in danger." Goku insisted. "Send them my message. I'm sure if Kaio agrees with going after Frieza, he can agree that we don't need to endanger Trunks. Tell them I won't get involved with the Frieza heist until they agree to keep Trunks out of this."

"Kaio might just _want_ you to stay out of that heist. He seemed worried about Vegeta getting involved with Frieza. He told me to warn you to stay away from Frieza." Roshi shrugged as he stood from his chair again. He reached out his hand to shake it with Goku. "It was good talking to you, Go. He he he." Roshi laughed bashfully as he rubbed his bald head. "I just keep doing that. I'll relay your messages. When do you want to meet again?" Goku thought for a moment, he'd need to case Frieza's place with Vegeta and the guys at night, and now he knew Vegeta had his meeting with Frieza tomorrow night. He wanted Kaio and Piccolo's answer as soon as possible, though.

"Be here again tomorrow morning. I'll expect their answers by then." Goku decided, opening the door for Roshi as he showed him out.

* * *

Goku walked into the mansion that afternoon, pleased to be immediately greeted by Chi-Chi, when he had arrived earlier than he was needed just to see her. "Hello, Kakarot." Chi-Chi said with a suggestive smile as she could see by his demeanor that he was not there solely for business today. She gave him a long, passionate kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck as he grabbed her waist with both hands, sliding them down to rest on her hips when they broke the kiss. Chi-Chi grabbed Goku's hand and began leading him down the hall to a bedroom. "No freebies today, baby." Chi-Chi warned as she looked at Goku over her shoulder. Goku smirked. A working girl needs to make her money, but that was no problem for him. Sleeping with the women here was part of his cover, and the department covered the cost of these expenses. That was how Kakarot met Vegeta, by first becoming a regular client at the mansion. It made his shift into Vegeta's other business less suspicious. Chi-Chi wasn't cheap, but she usually didn't charge Goku. They had developed something like a relationship over all this time Goku had been working for Vegeta, and he clearly favored her over the other girls.

They entered the bedroom, Chi-Chi laying back on the bed with her eyes fixed intently on Goku. She licked her lips, then gave a nod towards the table. "Put the money on the table." She told him. He gave her a cocky grin.

"You don't even know what to charge me for yet." He countered as he climbed over her legs, kissing her and licking her lips. Chi-Chi started panting and laid back on the bed as Goku climbed over her, working on her neck with sensual kisses.

"You keep that up and you'll be charging me." Chi-Chi said as she pushed his face away and flipped Goku on his back, straddling him and sucking hard on his neck, applying slight pressure with her teeth before releasing his skin from her mouth and proceeding to nibble on his ear. She proceeded to unbutton his shirt while kissing her way to his lips, starting another passionate kiss once their lips met, as she pulled his shirt open and began running her hands over his finely chiseled abdomen and chest. Goku groaned as she placed her lips around one of his nipples and bit down gently, then began sucking the hardened nub in her mouth. He ground his hips into her open legs hovering over him and reached his hands around to squeeze her smooth ass draped in a lace dress. Goku pulled the dress up, reaching his hand between Chi-Chi's legs and massaging between her moistened folds as she sighed into his lips.

He flipped her over and climbed off the bed to remove his pants while Chi-Chi wiggled her panties off. Goku climbed over Chi-Chi, wasting no time as he thrust into her immediately with a grunt, Chi-Chi inhaling sharply at the sudden intrusion and running her nails up and down his back while Goku pumped into her faster and faster, the headboard thumping loudly as Chi-Chi moaned in ecstasy. Goku reached his hands under Chi-Chi's ass, pulling himself in deeper as he positioned her hips at an angle that drove her crazy and she became louder until she finally quivered beneath him, and Goku released into her calling out her name when he couldn't hold out any longer. He collapsed on Chi-Chi and rolled over to her side as they both lay there panting for a few minutes, catching their breath. Chi-Chi laid her palm on Goku's chest, rubbing it up and down before rising from the bed and cleaning herself up with supplies kept at the night table. Goku followed suit a moment later, putting his pants back on as Chi-Chi watched him with a cunning smile.

"That was intense." Chi-Chi said as she stepped into her panties, wiggling them over her hips. Goku smiled at her as he began buttoning his shirt.

"You do that to me." He said as he approached her and kissed her again, quickly getting swept up in the feel of her lips and deepening the kiss as their tongues jutted out and he explored the inside of her mouth, feeling himself beginning to harden again already. Chi-Chi pulled away panting to catch her breath.

"Wow." She said with a smile as she pulled her dress back down and looked pointedly at the dresser. Goku smirked back at her, reaching into his pocket.

"Same as usual?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her as he pulled out his wallet.

"I want to say that one's on me, but I know Bulma would have a fit. So usual's fine." Chi-Chi said with a shrug as she slipped on her shoes and checked herself in the mirror. "She threw a hissy yesterday when she found out Maron's been giving out free rides left and right to Nappa and Raditz. She threatened to throw her out on the street. I am _not_ working the streets." Chi-Chi said with a surprisingly stuck up tone for someone in her position as she fixed her hair.

"Of course not." Goku said as he wrapped his arms around Chi-Chi's waist. "You've got Gohan to think about." Of course, this was not the best place for her son to grow up, either. Goku frowned at the thought, realizing he had become closer to these people than he should have. "Listen, Chi-Chi. Don't tell anyone else yet, but I might not be hanging around here for much longer." Goku admitted, needing to let Chi-Chi know before he left and she felt abandoned with no warning. She pushed away from him and looked up at him sadly.

"Kakarot, you're leaving us?" She asked as she placed her hand over her chest in dismay. Goku placed his money on the dresser, then turned and grabbed Chi-Chi gently behind her neck, kissing her on the forehead.

"Yes." He answered simply as he reached for the door, opening it and looking back at Chi-Chi for a moment. "Our secret, okay?" He asked as she nodded sadly and wordlessly. Chi-Chi quickly hardened her expression as she followed Goku out of the room, heading to the living room in preparation to meet her next client.

"What secret?" Goku heard the soprano voice, spinning around to find Bulma looking at him suspiciously. Apparently she had been waiting just outside the room, which stirred Goku's mutual suspicion.

"Just bedroom stuff, Bulma. Don't worry, I paid." Goku said, raising his palms defensively as Bulma glared at him with accusation written all over her face. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, studying him as Goku maintained an expression of ease. Bulma didn't worry him. "How's Trunks?" He asked casually, causing Bulma to lighten up as her posture relaxed.

"Great. Thanks for asking, Kakarot." She sighed, then smiled at him.

"Has Vegeta started talking to him yet? I know he was thinking about it." Goku said deceptively, hoping Bulma might reveal something about this dinner meeting.

"Well, yes. Actually, he's taking Trunks out for dinner tomorrow night." Bulma said with a smug smile. She was proud of herself. Ah, she had something to do with it. Goku smiled knowingly at her.

"You finally talked Vegeta into it, huh? What'd it take, sixteen years?" Goku mocked. Bulma slapped him in the shoulder hard as he laughed at her. "No, seriously, I'm happy for him." Goku said with sincerity, causing Bulma's anger to fizzle. "Just some time alone together will be a good chance for them to get to know each other." Bulma frowned.

"They won't be alone." She remarked as she crossed her arms. "Vegeta only agreed to take Trunks to dinner as an attempt to get him started in his business. Which means they're meeting someone." Bulma said insightfully. She always was clever. Sometimes she was more someone to watch out for than Vegeta.

"Oh." Goku said, trying to sound surprised. "Well, I hope Trunks knows it's not just the two of them, he might be disappointed."

"No, he must know. His father talked with him in the office." Bulma said pointedly, and Goku was impressed. Vegeta only discussed strict business there. Goku glanced at his watch, and started with a gasp.

"Uh, Bulma, I've gotta go. See you later." He said as he planted a quick kiss on her cheek and hurried down the hall towards Vegeta's office. He halted immediately when Raditz came hurrying down the hall towards him.

"Kakarot! Quit fucking around and get down there! Vegeta's about to bite my head off because _you _can't make it to a meeting on time!" Raditz growled angrily as he grabbed Goku by the shirt collar and proceeded to drag him down the hall. Goku smacked Raditz's hand away and wiggled his collar back into place as he followed after Raditz, glaring at the other man's back. They headed down the stairs and immediately went into Vegeta's office where the door was open.

"Kakarot! Can't you ever arrive on time?" Vegeta asked in annoyance as Goku and Raditz entered the room.

"Hey, Nappa, Brolly. Vegeta." Goku answered with a nod, ignoring Vegeta's question as he crossed his arms and stood by the wall at the back of the office. Vegeta growled in annoyance at him, but decided it was time to get moving. This job was more important than dealing with Kakarot's untimeliness.

"Let's go." Vegeta said with a scowl as he stood from his seat and the men filed out of the office, Vegeta ordering them where to go on the way out. He smacked Raditz in the head when he waved to a flirtatious Maron as they passed through the living room. That was the downfall to profiting off a whorehouse. The men were constantly getting distracted. When the men stepped outside the mansion, the sun had already set and the darkness of night was just rolling in. It would be a long drive to the address that Frieza's traitor provided them, and by the time they arrived, they'd have the cover of darkness concealing them from the sights of the facility guards.

Brolly and Nappa filed into one car, they'd be casing the back exit of the facility together. That left Goku, Vegeta and Raditz in the other car. Raditz laid himself out in the backseat, planning for a nap during this long ride, while Goku did the driving. They listened to music as Vegeta gave Goku a quick run-down of the information he had been provided about this place. Vegeta looked in the back to see that Raditz had already passed out by the time they reached the highway. He looked at Goku, who was currently absorbed in his driving. After a moment of careful consideration in silence, Vegeta decided to question Goku.

"Kakarot, I was talking to Bulma last night." Vegeta began, and to his surprise, Goku smiled at him as if he already knew this.

"Yeah! She told me you're going out with Trunks tomorrow. That's great that you're finally bonding with your son, Vegeta." Goku answered encouragingly.

"What?! That woman needs to learn to keep her mouth shut." Vegeta carped as Goku stifled a smirk, knowing his amusement would not at all be appreciated by Vegeta right now. "That's not why I mentioned her, Kakarot." Vegeta said quietly as he looked at Goku, completely serious. Goku felt his palms sweating under Vegeta's scrutinizing gaze. Instinct was telling him this was one of those times where he really needed to be careful. Vegeta knew his tics and mannerisms by now, and was getting very good at figuring out when Goku was lying.

"So, what did you talk about?" Goku asked carefully and slowly, casting a sideways glance at Vegeta as he continued driving.

"She doesn't trust you. She's a distrustful woman, but she's also clever. I can't help thinking there's something you're not telling me, Kakarot." Vegeta said as he crossed his arms and continued his piercing gaze into his subject. Goku kept his breathing steady and face blank as he continued driving, then turned his face towards Vegeta.

"There are a lot of things I'm not telling you, Vegeta. I'm not exactly an open book." Goku admitted nonchalantly. "But if you're suggesting that I would betray you in any way…" Goku shook his head as if the thought were impossible, "I think we've already established that I would do _anything_ for you." Goku said pointedly as he placed his free hand on Vegeta's. He couldn't believe he was actually playing this card again, but Vegeta's behavior was too reminiscent of the time he had discovered Goku talking to police and kicked him out of his business. There was too much at stake right now for him to lose Vegeta's trust again. Vegeta's gaze followed Goku's hand, and he looked back up to Goku's face, reading him carefully. Vegeta's expression remained blank, and Goku debated whether he was buying it, but was distracted by shuffling in the backseat. Vegeta quickly glanced over his shoulder to see Raditz sitting up, rubbing the back of his head tiredly.

"Are we almost there?" Raditz asked as he opened one eye, leaning forward on the center console between Goku and Vegeta, who quickly separated their hands before he saw.

"Yes. Kakarot, take that exit." Vegeta ordered as an exit approached, and Vegeta began discussing Raditz's part in the heist with him. Goku breathed a sigh of relief as Vegeta became involved in conversation with Raditz, but worried that this questioning of loyalty was just the tip of the iceberg, especially if Vegeta's moles at the station discovered that one of Vegeta's men was an undercover cop.

* * *

Lazuli stood with her arms crossed, rubbing them up and down in an attempt to warm herself with friction as she and her brother stood in the bitter cold waiting to meet Vegeta. They left the car when they saw his vehicle pull up, but for some reason he parked far from them and was slowly approaching on foot while they froze their asses off in this barren, windy parking lot. Maybe the prick enjoyed watching them suffer. Finally, Vegeta was close enough to talk.

"Alright, tell me what you know and tell me quickly. I want to get my ass inside and get some sleep." Vegeta remarked as soon as he saw the twins.

Lazuli glanced at her brother who remained stoic in the cold, and decided to start. "There's an undercover from the department. His name is Goku and I'm partnered with his old partner. He went undercover somewhere almost a year ago." Vegeta looked at Lazuli expectantly, clearly disappointed that she had stopped talking.

"And that's all you have for me?" Vegeta asked in disbelief. He looked at Lapis. "Tell me you have something."

"When Lazuli told me about that, I asked my partner about Goku, claiming I'd heard of him. He told me they're not supposed to talk about Goku while he's undercover. But the way he said it got me suspicious." Lapis answered as he breathed warm air into his hands to thaw his frozen fingers.

"Suspicious of what?" Vegeta asked with intrigue.

"All the time we've worked as detectives, we've never been 'not allowed' to talk about undercover coworkers within the department." Lazuli explained. "The Captain and the D.A. are being very careful and tight-lipped." She remarked as Lapis nodded in agreement. Vegeta's eyes lit with understanding.

"So they know you're there. They know I have people in the department." Vegeta acknowledged. Lazuli nodded.

"Yeah, which leads me to think this undercover detective might be one of _your_ guys." Lapis commented. "How else would the department figure us out? Unless someone tipped them off." Lazuli's eyes widened and she gasped as a new thought occurred to her.

"I know how else they might know. I saw a young man, a teenager walk into the station the other day. He left a while later, so he must have talked to somebody inside." Lazuli said as she shook her hair out of her face which was blown in front of her eyes by an icy gust of wind.

"So?" Lapis asked tauntingly as he moved his hands into his coat pockets. "Lots of teenagers come into the station, he was probably just reporting a crime."

"This teenager, smartass, strongly resembled Vegeta." Lazuli replied to her brother disdainfully. "I hadn't noticed it at the time, but now that I'm looking right at Vegeta, I know it had to be his son." Vegeta's face tightened into a furious expression as he looked disbelievingly at the twins.

"Trunks?!" Vegeta exclaimed as his lip turned up in a snarl. The twins shrugged indifferently as Vegeta turned his back to them, rushing to his car in a hurry. He started it and sped off, tires screeching as he peeled out of the parking lot. Lazuli and Lapis looked at each other.

"Guess that meeting's over." Lapis remarked dryly. "I wouldn't want to be The Prince's kid right now." The two siblings retreated to their car, thankful when the warm heat enveloped the interior as they sped off and headed for home themselves.


	4. Fooling Yourself

Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang. Goku woke with a start to the sound of pounding on his bedroom door. He squinted at his alarm clock to see that it was 6:30 a.m. He carefully grabbed his gun, walking to the door with it behind his back. He pulled the door back quickly, not knowing who to expect on the other side, but mostly he expected Vegeta himself or some hired hitman after his latest conversation in the car with Vegeta. He stood behind the door, ready to pull his gun as he recognized the intruder of his sleep. With a heavy sigh he opened the door wide, letting his hand holding the gun fall to his side.

"Roshi, what are you doing here so early? You scared the shit out of me." Goku complained as he walked back to his bed, dropping the gun under the nightstand and flopping on his back into the bed.

"I scared the shit out of _you_? You're the one pointing a gun in my face, I'm an old man, you know. You can't do that to me!" Roshi yelled, half out of his wits with fright as he shut the door behind him. Goku lay on the bed, not responding as he rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Were you expecting a different kind of company this morning, Go…Kakarot?" Roshi asked curiously as he realized the implications of his friend answering his door in such a paranoid manner.

"Let's just say my loyalty is in question right now, Roshi. Vegeta can be unpredictable sometimes when he gets angry." Goku explained as he sat up, hoping that he was wrong about Vegeta. "Why are you here so early, though?"

"I'm sorry to surprise you, but we just said morning, didn't settle on a time for our meeting. And I have a lot of clients to see today, figured I'd get an early start." Goku sighed tiredly.

"Alright, if we do this quickly enough, I might be able to get back to sleep. What did Piccolo and Kaio say about my idea?" Goku brimmed with interest as he asked the question.

"Piccolo didn't like the idea of Vegeta getting off, but reluctantly gave you the option to offer him immunity for his cooperation if it comes to that." Goku smiled brightly. Maybe he could work everything out so he wouldn't have to betray Vegeta. He hated to admit it, but he actually did form a bond with the guy. He might do some bad things, but Goku saw a good side to him as well. "Piccolo knows Frieza needs to be behind bars, the man is a mass murderer, and he's got the mayor all over his ass to put that guy away. Kaio absolutely hates the idea of you going after Frieza, but between Piccolo and the mayor, he was overruled. They both agreed to back off from the Briefs kid." Goku smiled and stood up excitedly.

"Great!" He exclaimed.

"Now, Gkakarot, don't get too excited. It doesn't seem things are going very well for you right now. The last time your loyalty to Vegeta was in question was the beginning of that incident that you've been torturing yourself with for months. We aren't heading down that road again by any chance, are we?" Roshi implicated knowingly. Goku frowned deeply and rubbed his hand over his face as he tried to think of what to say. "I figured as much." Roshi commented immediately, reading Goku like an open book. "Just be careful, think about what you're doing." Roshi advised as Goku opened his mouth to speak, but had trouble finding the words he needed to say. "You don't want to continue feeling so deeply regretful if you seduce the guy a second time."

"Ugh! Roshi, did you have to say that?" Goku responded, wincing with repulsion. Roshi shrugged.

"What? That's what you did. If it was a woman, you wouldn't even flinch at the word." Roshi's eyes gleamed and he licked his lips. "If it was a woman, I'd be much more interested in talking about it. Hey! We have a few minutes, why don't you tell me a little more about the women at that Saiyajin mansion? I know you've been with them, you lucky bastard! The least I can get out of playing middle man for you guys is some pleasurable fantasizing." Roshi said as he rubbed his hands together greedily while he pictured beautiful prostitutes throwing themselves at him.

"Sorry, Roshi. I'm all done talking." Goku said as he rose from the bed and gently shoved Roshi towards the door. Roshi tried digging in his heels, but Goku only pushed a little harder. Goku opened the door and shoved Roshi through it, while Roshi stuttered objections. Goku refused to listen, shutting the door behind Roshi and assuming the old man would show himself out of the house.

"Dammit! You'll talk to me next time!" Roshi threatened through the door as Goku sighed when he heard the man's retreating footsteps. He turned back to the bed with a frown. There was no way he was getting back to sleep after that conversation, not when he knew he'd have to face Vegeta again later that day.

* * *

"You know I am not happy about this." Piccolo grumbled with a deep scowl as he sat in front of the Captain's desk, hands clasped on the desktop.

"_You're_ not happy about it? I've got my best man out there, ready to get himself killed. We never associate any undercover agents with Frieza's dealings anymore. That monster always finds them out and kills them." Kaio fretted as he nervously bit his thumbnail. Piccolo leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs as he watched the captain's nervousness with bitter amusement.

"That's not what I'm unhappy about. If anyone can get through this alive, it's Goku. He'll be fine." Piccolo assured with a smirk as he placed both hands on the armrest of his chair. His mien quickly changed to a frown. "What I'm referring to is Vegeta's immunity deal. We should have never put it on the table. He and Frieza are enemies, always have been. This just works out too perfectly for him. And his victims deserve justice, Kaio!" Piccolo growled angrily as he slammed his fist on the armrest.

"I understand, Piccolo. But right now we need to worry about the big picture, and the present issues. From what Roshi said, Goku is very worried for Trunks Briefs' safety. Trunks came to the station once, and if Vegeta's mole saw him, he could already be a target. I'm going to send a pair of detectives to keep an eye on the kid." Kaio insisted as he picked up his phone, beginning to dial a number. He looked at Piccolo expectantly. Piccolo huffed as he stood from his seat, grabbing his briefcase which was resting against it.

"You better know what you're doing." Piccolo said with a sigh as he left the office.

* * *

Krillin tapped his fingers on the dashboard, enjoying the music in his car as he scanned the area on the street for signs of anyone. It had been pretty vacant for a while now, this was the part of a stakeout that was tedious. Of course, Krillin couldn't complain about it right now, not when he had his beautiful new partner by his side. He glanced at her, hoping she wouldn't notice his gaze as he watched her sipping through the lid of her coffee. He watched those delicate lips pucker around the spout of the drink, and became mesmerized with the thoughts of those lips touching him. He was so lost in his thoughts that he started with surprise when he realized she was speaking to him.

"Why don't you go?" She said with annoyance, and he looked at her first, then around the area, completely perplexed. He peered closely at doorway of the Saiyajin mansion, and inhaled sharply as he recognized a figure walking through it. Trunks Briefs. "Come on, he just got home from school. You don't want to waste any time getting in there, do you?" Lazuli prodded as Krillin stayed planted in his seat. Krillin certainly didn't want to wait. The partners had discussed their approach to this on the way to the mansion. Krillin would go in to check on the boy under the guise of looking for a woman to satisfy him. Lazuli would not have such an easy excuse for her presence there. Besides, unknown to Krillin, Lazuli was worried how Vegeta might react to seeing her there.

Krillin quickly walked out of the car, heading inside the mansion as Lazuli waited in the car, watching the streets so she could call him if there were any signs of trouble. When Krillin entered, Trunks was already tucked away in a room out of sight somewhere. He was immediately approached by a beautiful blue-haired girl.

"Hey, honey. How are you doing today?" She asked boldly as she rubbed his bald head and looped her free arm around his, sweeping her hips intentionally against him. Krillin smiled at the girl, taking note of the other women lounging on the furniture, looking disinterested.

"Great. Could be better, though." Krillin said with a smile as he carefully looked around the place, secretly envying Goku for all the time he'd spent here on the job. What kind of job pays you for this? A bearded gentleman took his coat, which Krillin readily handed over as he noticed another blue-haired woman eyeing him astutely as she made her way down the stairs. His attention was ripped from the bombshell on the stairs when the one next to him grabbed his hand and spoke up again.

"I'm Maron. Why don't you come with me? We'll see if we can make your day better." She said seductively as she continued walking with her gaze on Krillin, not even noticing the other woman who had made her way down the stairs as Maron now ran right into her. She jumped in surprise and looked at the other woman with a worried expression. "Oh! I'm sorry Bulma!" She exclaimed as she placed a hand over her mouth. The woman named Bulma frowned at her.

"It's no problem, Maron." Bulma said as she switched her gaze to Krillin and smirked at him. "Why don't you let me take care of this one? Okay?" Bulma said sweetly to Maron. Krillin could tell that was an order, not a question, by the way Maron bowed down and sauntered lazily to the couches with the other women without uttering another word. This one had a powerful position here, he noted. Goku hadn't reported much about the women here, his information was all centered around Vegeta's business outside this mansion, so Krillin was working on limited information. But his observations never failed him before, and he was taking careful consideration of his surroundings and the people as he made his way through this place.

Bulma turned to Krillin with a seductive smile after Maron walked away. "Come with me." She told him, curling her finger forward as she walked backwards a few steps, twirling gracefully as she continued her way down the hall, stopping at the room at the end. She went in, and Krillin followed, now confused. This room was furnished with a desk, leather desk chair, two wingback chairs, and bookcases. He looked at Bulma with furrowed brows. Bulma smiled smugly and sat in the chair behind the desk, gesturing for Krillin to sit in one of the wingbacks in front of her. "Have a seat." Krillin sat in the chair uneasily, his shoulders strained to his ears as he worried now what this woman was up to.

"Uh, I was kinda expecting to be a little closer, and maybe a bed would be helpful?" Krillin asked warily. Bulma laughed.

"A bed for what? I don't know what kind of business you think I'm running here, but I assure you, detective. You are not dealing with a fool here." Bulma said as she crossed her arms and her expression became stern. Krillin gulped. This was one tough broad. How the hell did she figure him out? Maybe she was just bluffing, to be careful when new guys came in here.

"You know what we need a bed for." Krillin said with a playful smirk. "I don't know where you got the idea that I'm a detective, but-" Krillin said as he stood from the chair. Bulma immediately stood with him and cut him off.

"Cut the crap! I know a cop when I see one." Krillin smirked at that. Obviously at least one cop put it past her, or this operation would have ended a long time ago. "I see your eyes darting around, taking record of what you see in my place. You're so suspicious I could practically smell bacon before I even saw you at the front door." Bulma remarked as she grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the desk drawer and a lighter, taking out a cigarette and lighting it as she carefully considered Krillin with her eyes. "So what's your name?" Bulma asked as she inhaled the smoke and placed the items back in the drawer.

"Krillin." Krillin answered with a smile, not at all worried about Bulma discovering who he was. As long as Vegeta or his men didn't know…oh shit, what if she tells them? Krillin suddenly became worried, then an idea occurred to him. "Hey, what's your last name?" He asked curiously.

"Briefs." Bulma answered tersely as she tapped her cigarette ashes into the ashtray on the desk and leaned back in her chair. Krillin breathed a sigh of relief. This was actually the perfect person to know who he was.

"Listen. You're right, I am a detective." Krillin said as Bulma started to stand again, but he gestured for her to sit back down with a wave of his hands as he continued speaking quietly. "I don't care about your business, I'm here for your son." Krillin said, immediately causing Bulma to drop in shock.

"Trunks?" She gulped nervously and looked around the room as if she expected someone else to overhear them. "I don't understand, detective. Why are you here for my son? He's just a high school student." Krillin frowned at Bulma with a meaningful look.

"Trunks gave us some information on his father." Krillin regretfully informed her. Bulma gasped and took a long drag from her cigarette as her eyes widened at the admission. "We have reason to believe he may be in danger." Krillin admitted.

"Danger from Vegeta?" Bulma asked in disbelief with a smoky exhale. Part of her was in disbelief, but part of her would not put it past Vegeta to do whatever it takes to protect his business. Krillin nodded adamantly.

"He made it home okay, right?" Krillin asked, partly to confirm the appearance of the boy, and partly to give a positive note to the conversation to keep the mother from panicking. Bulma nodded absently.

"He's up in his room, doing homework." Bulma said as she stared thoughtfully towards a blank wall of the office. "He finally did it." She said quietly.

"What…what do you mean?" Krillin asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Vegeta has never acknowledged him, claims he has no son. That's what he says, but he knows it's not the truth. He's a stubborn, egotistical asshole!" Bulma fumed quietly through her teeth. "Trunks always resented his father for that, and he's threatened to me several times that he would turn against him so he and I could carry on together without Vegeta. I warned him not to!" Bulma cried out in exasperation as the extent her son's trouble finally hit her. Bulma looked at Krillin with determination. "What can you do for him?"

Krillin thought for a moment, running his hand over his head. "Really, if you are reacting the way you are, I believe we need to get the boy away from Vegeta for his own safety." Bulma nodded in agreement and put out her cigarette in the ashtray.

"You can put him in witness protection, or something like that?" Bulma asked Krillin with tear-rimmed eyes as she considered the price of her son's safety, her separation from him. Krillin nodded.

"We can put both of you in a safe house right away. I can make arrangements with my partner and my captain while you get the boy to pack some things." Bulma frowned and shook her head in disagreement.

"I'm staying right here. I'm not leaving my girls behind, and I can handle Vegeta. He has a dinner meeting tonight; he was going to bring Trunks along. He never goes in Trunks' room, so his missing things won't be an issue. But how will I explain Trunks' absence without Vegeta getting suspicious?" Krillin walked around the desk to Bulma's side and placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"You're a smart lady, Miss Briefs. I'm sure you can think of something to tell Vegeta to explain his son's absence for at least a few days. I'll do my part, keeping Trunks safe and figuring out if Vegeta even knows that his son was talking to the cops. It shouldn't take us more than a day to be sure." Krillin said, giving Bulma a reassuring smile. "This is all a precaution, he may end up coming right back home once we're sure things are safe." Bulma smiled at Krillin, though he could see the fear in her eyes.

"Thank you, detective." Bulma said genuinely as she placed her hand on her shoulder over Krillin's. "I'm sure Trunks is not going to be happy about this." She glanced at the clock. "We only have about an hour before Vegeta should be back to get ready for this dinner meeting." Bulma said as she left the room hurriedly, needing no further instructions as Krillin set the plans in motion with a call to Captain Kaio.

* * *

Vegeta frowned into the mirror, attempting a second time to get the knot on his tie right. He glanced to his right when he saw movement out of his peripheral vision, then returned his gaze to the mirror upon seeing Bulma walk into the room. She appeared behind him in the mirror, quickly helping him with his tie. "Here, Vegeta. Let me do it." She offered as he released his hands and rolled his eyes at her.

"Where is the boy? It's time to go." Vegeta told Bulma gruffly as he checked the time on his watch.

"Oh, I thought I told you." Bulma said distantly. "Trunks isn't coming with you tonight, he had a huge project come up for school. He's spending the night at his friend's house so they can work on it all night and tomorrow." Bulma finished the tie and stepped back to scrutinize its appearance. She smiled at Vegeta, careful not to show the slightest sign of lying. "You look great." She told him, smiling at the sexy man in front of her. Vegeta smirked back. If he had been suspicious of her lies, that compliment definitely threw him off.

"Hn." He checked his tie one more time, and grabbed his coat from the trunk at the foot of the bed. "I'm surprised you're not disappointed. You've only been harassing me to do something with the brat for his whole life, and now when I give him a chance, he cancels on _me_?" Shit. The compliment didn't work as well as Bulma hoped. She forced herself to make a disappointed expression as she stroked Vegeta's cheek with her hand.

"I am disappointed. But school is important, Trunks needs to do this. I'll be dealing with him later for putting this project off too long. If he had done it sooner, he could have gone out with you." Bulma had no trouble looking sad now. Trunks really did just miss his one chance of ever getting to know his father. She was surprised when Vegeta's hand rubbed against her cheek. He was wiping a tear away that Bulma didn't even realize she'd cried. She looked at his face to see him giving her that look. It was so rare. The one where she could tell he loved her, as much as the man refused to ever say it, she could see it and it was only for her.

"Go. You'll be late for dinner." Bulma said with a smile, removing Vegeta's hand from her face with both of hers and grabbing it tight before letting him go. Vegeta placed a kiss on her lips and quickly left the room.

* * *

Lazuli sat in a chair at a dinette table with her legs crossed, tapping her foot in the air impatiently. "Listen, Krillin. Maybe we can get someone to take over for us. I wasn't really planning on something like this today." Lazuli complained. Krillin had his back to her, so she wasn't really sure how he was reacting to that as he continued standing still. She hoped she'd get him to agree, because she really needed to get her ass out of here. She needed to tell Vegeta about this, and if he found out about this some other way, this was the last place she wanted to be.

"Why?" Krillin finally asked quietly, his back still to her as he continued gazing out the sliding glass door of the little kitchen.

Why? Lazuli considered for a moment what to tell Krillin. "Well, I just have other things to do, obligations and appointments and all. Like I said, wasn't planning on this today." Lazuli reiterated, hoping those reasons sounded valid enough.

"That's more important to you than protecting the life of a teenage boy?" Krillin asked in disbelief, turning to Lazuli with such an accusatory look that she actually recoiled from him for a moment. Lazuli looked at Krillin in shock, speechless. She did not expect such a powerful reaction from the sometimes cowardly detective. "Trunks is innocent, and now his life is in danger because he decided to do the right thing and stand up to his father." Krillin said quietly but vehemently as he pointed towards the end of the house where Trunks was currently closed away in a bedroom. "I promised his mother that I'd make sure he was safe, and that's what I'm doing." Krillin said stubbornly as he headed down the hall, probably checking on Trunks. Lazuli checked her phone during her moment alone, relieved to see no messages yet tonight. Lazuli took a deep breath as she put her phone away. It looked like she was stuck in this for a while. There was no way she could try to get out of here again without riling Krillin's suspicion. She was new to the department, and didn't want to arouse any notion of her being the mole just yet. Krillin returned to the kitchen, and she decided to start playing the role.

"Is he alright?" Lazuli asked with concern as Krillin joined her, sitting at the table with a frown. Krillin nodded. "You're right, Krillin. Look, I'm sorry about what I said before. I'm sure you had things to do today, too. But this is the job, right? We get to save lives." Lazuli said with a smile as she gazed into Krillin's eyes. He looked up at her, surprised to see her intense gaze, and immediately blushed. Lazuli smirked and whipped her hair out of her face as she stood up. Krillin stood as well, apparently uncomfortable with being the only one sitting. "I'll make us some dinner, you keep an eye on the kid." Lazuli said, smiling at the man as he smiled shyly and headed back towards Trunks.

Lazuli pulled her phone back out once she was alone, realizing this was the perfect opportunity to inform Vegeta of Trunks' protected location. She pulled up his number and started a text, her finger hesitating over the screen before she had anything typed. Her hand trembled and she placed the phone back on the counter with a heavy sigh. What was wrong with her? Was she really that worried about the boy's safety? She'd been involved in the killing of plenty of innocent witnesses before, and it never bothered her then. Maybe it wasn't about the kid. Lazuli regarded her phone as she began cooking, wanting to do as she was paid to do, but finding no will to force her hands to do so.


	5. Tragedy

Tragedy

Bulma walked into her bedroom around ten-thirty after a long night of attending to clients while Vegeta had been out for dinner. Her girls pulled in a good night, and Vegeta's guys downstairs stayed out of the way, so the only rough part of the night was her mind's constant wandering back to Trunks. She hoped he was safe wherever he was. Bulma turned on the bedroom light as she proceeded to take off her earrings, glancing into the mirror for a moment. She jumped with a startled gasp as her mirror revealed the figure of a man sitting in a chair behind her in the bedroom. She quickly sighed heavily with relief once she recognized it was Vegeta, sitting with a glass of whisky in his hand and an intense expression fixed on her. He was definitely drunk. Bulma decided against asking how the meeting went. When he came home drunk, it was usually because of some bad news. She spun around to face him.

"Vegeta! What are you doing sitting in the dark?" Bulma asked with a coy smile as she kicked off her shoes.

"Waiting for you, woman." Vegeta answered in an icy tone that immediately changed the atmosphere in the room. She had been about to unzip her dress and get into something more comfortable, but quickly removed her hands from the zipper and looked Vegeta in the eyes with fear. He smirked. "Are you scared, Bulma?" Vegeta asked with an edge of amusement that let Bulma know that Vegeta knew something was up. "And what have you done to be so frightened?" He cocked his head and remained in the chair on the other side of the room, taking another sip of his whiskey.

Bulma made her best attempt at a seductive smile, but even Aphrodite herself didn't have a chance with Vegeta right now. He was clearly livid. Bulma swallowed nervously and took a glimpse at the door, thinking if things didn't go smoothly with talking, at least she had a clear path to it and Vegeta was still far enough away that she could make a run for it.

"I don't know why you think I've done something, Vegeta. I've been here working all night." Bulma said calmly and coolly, leaning against the dresser behind her. Vegeta slammed his whiskey glass on the ground, the contents spilling across the floor and the glass bouncing off the plush carpet with a hollow thump.

"Don't fuck with me, woman! I want to know where the boy is." Vegeta yelled, his voice receding to a low growl as he spoke.

"You want to know where Trunks is? I told you where he went. And why do you care so much about our son all of a sudden?" Bulma shot back at Vegeta. Her temper ran away with her at the irony of Vegeta wanting Trunks the one time Bulma actually wants him to forget about his son.

"Careful." Vegeta warned deeply as he stood from his seat. "I'm so angry right now I might just do something I'd regret." He walked right up to Bulma and she stepped back instinctively, cringing away from him. She knew he had plenty of bite behind that bark, she'd seen it before when he drinks. "Raditz drove past the boy on the street. He saw him leave with a man and a woman. Now what are you hiding from me, woman? I need to know." Vegeta said as he continued stepping towards Bulma, and she continued backing away until she hit the wall. Vegeta placed his hands on the wall, caging her face between them.

"Wh-why do you need to know where Trunks is?" Bulma asked with a shaky voice, afraid to hear the answer.

"The boy went to the cops! He betrayed me! My own flesh and blood!" Vegeta yelled as he pounded a fist through the wall, causing Bulma to jump. She glared back at him, having some newfound courage in response to his audacity at making a claim on Trunks now, when it suited him to do so.

"And what do you plan to do about it?" Bulma asked with brashness that set Vegeta off. He backhanded her across the face before she even had any idea it was coming. Bulma's mouth dropped as she held her hand to her pulsing cheek and felt a small sob rise from her chest. That hurt like hell. Vegeta frowned at her, and walked back to the chair he sat in before she came into the room. It seemed that act of violence quelled his anger enough for him to resume speaking rationally.

"The boy has rebelled against me. Who knows what he's told them already? But I'll be damned if I give him the chance to do it again." Vegeta said in a low voice as he clenched his fists tight. Bulma did not dare approach him. She remained against the wall, frozen in fear.

"You…you couldn't mean that you would actually…" Bulma trailed off, unable to say it. But she knew what Vegeta was thinking. Trunks had a personality much like Vegeta's, so Vegeta understood him pretty well despite the lack of time they'd spent together. And Bulma knew that Trunks would not back down once he had an idea in his head. If Vegeta wanted to stop Trunks from talking again, the only way he'd be sure of that would be a very final solution. "Vegeta, he's your son." Bulma said imploringly, desparate to change his mind. She was thankful as hell that cop showed up earlier today, or Trunks would be dead already. Vegeta's head whipped up as he met Bulma's eyes, and she could see the pain he was going through with this decision, for just a split second. Then he turned to stone.

"I will ask you one more time. Where is the brat?" Bulma slumped to the ground in defeat. Vegeta would be furious now, no matter what she said. She couldn't make up another lie about his whereabouts, and Trunks and the cops were long gone by now. She could only hope Vegeta wouldn't be able to track him. Bulma closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then spoke quietly.

"The cops came here to take him away from you." Bulma admitted, and wondered if Vegeta heard her for a moment, as she had said it so quietly. She heard his footsteps slowly approaching her. All doubts were gone as soon as she felt his hand come down on her head causing pain in her scalp as he pulled her up from the ground. Bulma screamed and grimaced in pain, using the wall for support as Vegeta continued to hold onto her hair and snarled in her face.

"You…you…you helped them?!" Vegeta roared. Bulma nodded silently, closing her eyes as she braced for Vegeta's wrath. She felt his grip on her hair release and opened her eyes in surprise. Vegeta was furious, clenching his fists repeatedly and breathing hotly as he glared at Bulma, shaking his head in disbelief at her betrayal. He grabbed her harshly by the jaw, clenching her jaw tightly in his hand and putting his face right in front of hers as he spoke. "You should know better." He said through his teeth. "Are you going to be a good girl now, or do I need to teach you a lesson like our son?" Bulma attempted nodding, but Vegeta's restraining grip kept her head tilted up and pressed against the wall. She couldn't open her mouth either, so any type of response was impossible. He must have realized this after a few minutes of no response. Vegeta finally released his grip, letting Bulma's head thump against the wall as he practically threw her head free of his hold.

"I'm sorry!" Bulma cried, falling to the floor again and clamping her hands around her aching neck. Vegeta scoffed and stomped out of the room without another word. After waiting in fear of him returning, Bulma finally realized Vegeta wasn't coming back. She let the sobs wrack through her body as her entire life had changed in one day.

* * *

Lazuli lay on the couch with her feet up on the chaise in front of her. She was pretty comfortable, considering she was the only one who had to stay up for a few more hours and it was getting late. At least Krillin would be relieving her shift in a few hours. She looked to her left, seeing Krillin lightly snoring on the recliner. She was supposed to be checking the property occasionally for any signs of intruders or whatever. She blew a raspberry at the thought, causing Krillin to stir in his sleep. Lazuli chuckled to herself. The guy was kind of cute when he was sleeping. She grabbed the remote sitting on the couch cushion next to her, and began flipping channels.

Immediately after picking up the remote, Lazuli's cell phone began vibrating. She was glad she had it on vibrate, or it could have awoken Krillin. She rolled her eyes at the caller ID and answered the phone, waiting for her caller to speak.

"Captain tells me you're on duty right now." Lazuli nodded to herself and resumed flipping channels. "Are you going to talk to me?" No.

"What do you want, Lapis?" Lazuli maintained a low volume with as much venom in her voice as possible. She wanted to be sure Krillin slept during this conversation.

"Why are you whispering?" Lapis whispered back mockingly.

"My partner is sleeping right next to me. I wouldn't want him waking up to hear this conversation, now would I?" Lazuli asked as she clapped her hand to her forehead in mortification. She knew her brother would jump all over that opening. He immediately chuckled.

"Ooh, you're moving in fast on those new partners, ain't ya, sis?" Lapis asked, his voice dancing with amusement. "Sleeping together already."

"Shut up, dickhead. It's not like that." Lazuli finally settled on a channel that looked interesting, setting down the remote as she spoke. "As much as I'm enjoying this thrilling conversation, I'd like to wrap it up. Was there something you needed?"

" 'You know who' needs some information. You got anything?" Lazuli immediately sat up. Shit. She was in a predicament now. She knew where Trunks was hiding for hours now. Hell, she was playing house with him and her partner. If she didn't tell Vegeta now, she'd be in deeper shit than she probably already was for sitting on this information. She looked at the clock, seeing that it was just past eleven o'clock. Okay, maybe it won't look so bad. She could make up some shit excuse for not telling him sooner. Lazuli took a glimpse of Krillin and frowned. She really didn't want to betray his trust. She knew how important it was to him to protect this kid. "Hello?"

"I'm here." Lazuli sighed deeply, then bit her lip, keeping her eyes on Krillin.

"Lazuli, I know you've got something. Are you with the kid?" Lapis asked suspiciously. Lazuli anxiously stroked her free hand through her silky strands repetitively and growled in frustration. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Lapis asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing!" Lazuli snapped, frowning deeply as she immediately looked back to Krillin and hoped desperately that she didn't wake him with that outburst. "I'm with my partner, we're watching the kid." Lazuli admitted regretfully.

"Good. I'll just tell him to follow the GPS on your cell phone to find him then." Lapis answered smugly. He paused for a moment as Lazuli let the guilt sink in at what she had just done. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he knows you're there. Wouldn't want you or your boyfriend getting hurt." Lapis added sardonically. Lazuli raised her middle finger in the air violently, wishing Lapis could see it.

"Tell him it's just me and Krillin. And his dumb thugs better not lay a hand on either of us. If they come soon, Krillin will still be sleeping and they won't even have to see him." Lazuli whispered into the phone, immediately shutting it off and hanging up on her brother as Krillin began moving in the recliner as if he was waking. He settled back in and dozed off again, and Lazuli started breathing again. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until then. She told herself to get a grip. This was just the beginning of the evening. Now she had to wait for some late night visitors to show up for Trunks.

* * *

Goku rested his chin on his hand, attempting to look casual and indifferent as he sat in Vegeta's office and listened to Vegeta vent about his son's betrayal and Bulma's gall at standing up to him. The tirade finally wound down, and Goku looked up at the ceiling as he prepared to act his part.

"So, do you know where the kid is now?" Goku asked. Vegeta smirked at him.

"Of course I do. I'm going to shut his mouth permanently." Vegeta said proudly. Goku's heart wrenched. He knew this would happen!

"You want me to take care of it?" Goku offered, beginning to stand as he assumed this was Vegeta's reason for calling him in here. To his surprise, Vegeta pressed a hand on his shoulder, leading him back in his seat.

"No. I already sent Brolly and Nappa. Those two needed to blow off some steam anyways." Goku felt his heart race. How long ago did Vegeta send them? He needed to call someone about this immediately if he could. "I want you to deal with the woman."

"Bulma?" Goku asked with confusion. Sure, she stood up to Vegeta, but what mother wouldn't when her son's life was threatened? Vegeta observed Goku's expression for a moment, then laughed.

"No. Not what you're thinking." Vegeta said with another laugh. "I mean, go upstairs and tend to her wounds. Talk to her and make sure she doesn't find out about this. The last thing I need tonight is to deal with a hysterical woman." Vegeta muttered as he crossed his arms and walked back to his seat behind the desk. Goku began to stand, thinking Vegeta was finished talking, but Vegeta dismissively tsked at him and waved his hand in a gesture for Goku to sit back down.

"I had a meeting with Frieza and Cold tonight." Vegeta said with a smug smile as he leaned across the desk. Goku knit his eyebrows in confusion. He still couldn't understand what that was about. Vegeta looked very amused at his reaction, though. "You could call it a peace offering dinner, it was a delicious meal." Vegeta remarked casually.

"Why would you want to make peace with them, Vegeta?" Goku asked with a level tone as he remained just as confused as before.

"To get Frieza loose and relaxed. Lube him up and stroke him so he'll never see it coming when I stick my cock up his ass." Vegeta responded with a gleefully malicious smile. Goku nodded with a frown, having to admit that it wasn't a bad plan, though he could have done without that reference. It was a particularly uncomfortable metaphor coming from Vegeta. "I'm sure it worked. We'll get the money." Now satisfied at having announced his success for the night, Vegeta waved at Goku dismissively.

"Go, Kakarot. Take care of the woman; keep her subdued for me tonight." Goku didn't waste any time leaving the room. He knew he needed to get straight to Bulma, so he texted Krillin on his way up the stairs, hoping desperately that Krillin would get the warning in time. It was risky to text Krillin from here; if Vegeta decided to take a look at Goku's phone before he had the chance to delete that text, he could be discovered. But Goku was willing to risk his life if he could save Trunks by doing this.

* * *

Lazuli was absorbed in a sci-fi horror flick she had found on the television. She wondered what she was thinking watching it at a time like this, but it was the only thing on TV that seemed appealing. A commercial break started and she headed to the kitchen for a glass of water as Trunks and Krillin continued sleeping. She was walking back to her seat on the couch when she heard an alert tone and vibration from the coffee table near Krillin. She quickly glanced at Krillin, relieved to see that the text didn't wake him. But who would text Krillin right now?

Lazuli decided it would be wise to check the text, and picked up the phone to do so. Her mouth dropped when she read it. So the undercover guy really was one of Vegeta's! Here was a text to Krillin warning of two of Vegeta's men knowing where Trunks is and coming for him right now. Lazuli quickly jotted down the number the text was sent from, replacing Krillin's phone right where it had been before so Krillin would not notice anything amiss when he woke up. She went to her purse, searching for something that would finally solve the mystery of just who this undercover cop was.

While rummaging through her purse, Lazuli debated how she'd cover her ass in regards to that text. She'd been thinking over the murder of Trunks in that regard as well. She thought about deleting the text, but the undercover guy would insist he sent it, which would lead to them accusing her of deleting the text and being the mole. If those goons would show up soon, she could kill two birds with one stone by letting the jerks knock her out. The timing would be perfect, and she could claim that she was taken by surprise and never saw Trunks' killers when Krillin woke. Not that it was a pleasant thought or spoke highly of her abilities as a cop, but it was better than being deemed a traitor.

Lazuli found what she was searching for and extracted it from her purse. It was a small black spiral notebook, where Vegeta had given her several notes about his business before she began spying for him. One important bit of information, which she was after right now, was the names and cell numbers of all those under his employ.

* * *

Once Goku made it upstairs, he passed the first bedroom and saw the door was open. Goku glanced inside as he walked past, smiling as he saw Gohan's sleeping form cuddled in the blankets. He stopped a few doors down from there, knocking on Bulma's door.

Goku heard shuffling behind the door, but no answer. He frowned and opened the door, knowing Bulma was scared behind it, and injured from what Vegeta had told him. However, he was unprepared for what he saw when the door opened. Ever since he met Bulma, she was fearless and feisty, even against a man as powerful and frightening as Vegeta. When he opened the door, she lay curled in a fetal position on the bed, sobbing quietly, her face bruised and swollen from where Vegeta apparently struck her. Goku walked to her side, careful not to surprise her as he approached slowly and without stealth. It didn't seem to matter. Goku sat on the bed beside Bulma for a few minutes before she startled and looked up at him as if he had instantaneously appeared there.

"Bulma, I'm here to take care of you." Goku was careful not to mention Vegeta's name, which would probably set her off right now. He reached his hand out hesitantly, eyeing Bulma's expression warily to be sure she was okay with the gesture. When she watched him calmly, he continued his reach and stroked her back soothingly. Bulma seemed to relax after a few quiet moments of the treatment, and Goku carefully inspected her face, shaking his head. Vegeta really did a number on her.

"Vegeta sent you." Bulma stated bitterly as she watched Goku's expression upon seeing her face. Goku nodded.

"I'll be back in just a second." Goku said as he stood and headed to Bulma's bathroom, running the faucet and finding a hand towel. Goku waited for the water to warm up, glancing back at Bulma to keep a protective watch on her. His mind drifted back to Trunks and Krillin as he placed the towel under the warm running water, and he forced himself not to show any unnecessary worry to Bulma. He would have to lie to her, just like Vegeta wanted. Telling her anything else would blow his cover.

Goku turned off the faucet and returned to Bulma, sitting on the bed again and placing the towel delicately against Bulma's cheek. Aside from the injuries, her makeup was smeared across her face and her eyes were swollen from the tears. Bulma grabbed the towel and started gently massaging it against her face with one hand, keeping her eyes on Goku the whole time. He wondered if she was being so attentive because she was suspicious or scared of him. Bulma sat up after a moment and threw the towel in Goku's face. He caught it and looked at her, awestruck.

"Vegeta can't kill Trunks! I can't believe he laid his hands on me!" Bulma yelled as she emerged from her shell and reddened with rage. "Did he send you here to finish the job?" Bulma asked accusingly as she prepared to swing at Goku, but he was prepared for this assault and quickly wrapped his arms tightly around Bulma, restraining her from striking at him.

"It's okay, Bulma! I really am just here to help!" Goku assured her as she continued attempting to hurt him. Goku felt his skin tearing as Bulma's teeth planted into his shoulder and he immediately released her with a pained growl. Bulma tried to run for the door, but Goku jumped on her, knocking her on the ground and laying on top of her to restrain her. Goku smirked when Bulma attempted biting him again but could not reach him in that position. He had her arms and legs restrained as well. After a few minutes, Bulma stopped fighting him when she realized escaping was futile and Goku really wasn't trying to hurt her when he had plenty of chances to do so. "Personally, I thought the bed was much more comfortable." Goku remarked wryly as Bulma scrunched her face at him in frustration.

"What do you have to do with all of this, Kakarot?" Bulma asked as she glared at Goku above her. Goku was surprised by the question, and Bulma flinched as if trying to get free again when his body temporarily relaxed. He tightened his hold on her again, annoyed that she continued fighting him when he tried to make it obvious that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Bulma, I don't know what you're talking about. What do you think I've done?" Bulma laughed to herself. She was sure she had said those exact words a while ago to Vegeta. He was definitely hiding something. Goku watched Bulma's bitter laughter with confusion.

"Kakarot, if you answer some questions for me, I'll stop fighting you." Bulma negotiated, assuming if this man was willing to answer the questions she'd ask, she really could trust him not to hurt her right now. Goku nodded with a weak smile.

"Ask me anything." He said with a confident tone, though inside he feared Bulma might ask questions that he couldn't answer.

* * *

Kakarot. She finally found Vegeta's traitor. Lazuli quickly tore up the written phone number and threw the shreds of paper as well as the notebook back inside her purse. She glanced at the clock, wondering how much longer those brutes would take to get here. The timing was essential now.

Lazuli was relieved when she glanced out the front window of the house and saw headlights. The car parked on the street, and two men emerged, heading right for the front door. Lazuli opened the door as soon as they were close enough, and gave them a nod to let them know who she was as they looked at her with guarded expressions. The men looked at each other, nodding as they proceeded to walk through the door very quietly. They both had guns ready at their sides.

* * *

"How did Vegeta know about Trunks going to the cops?" Bulma asked as her expression became worried when she began thinking of her son again. Goku sighed, playing it off as if this was difficult to answer. It wasn't. This was an easy question.

"Vegeta has informants in the police department, Bulma." Goku admitted. Bulma's jaw tightened and she winced at the pain caused by the expression from her previous injuries. "They must have seen Trunks at the station." Goku said with a concerned frown. Bulma caught that look, and refocused her attentions on Kakarot.

"You don't want anything to happen to Trunks, do you?" Bulma asked quietly, hoping she was right. She figured if someone cared about her boy more than his father did, maybe she could rely on him to help her son. Goku smiled sadly at Bulma.

"No." He admitted. Bulma smiled up at him. "Vegeta doesn't know where he is. Let's just hope he stays hidden." Goku added reluctantly, one of those lies that hurt to tell.

"You're not worried about Trunks talking about you to the cops?" Bulma asked, somewhat suspicious of Kakarot's lack of concern in that area.

"No." Goku snorted. "The cops wouldn't care about me. Vegeta's the one they're after. I could disappear and no one would bother coming after me." Bulma had to admit, that was probably true. She looked up at Goku, surprised to see him studying her intently. "Can we get off the floor now?" He asked, and Bulma laughed and nodded as Goku released his hold and climbed off of her. He offered his hand to help her up, and Bulma gladly accepted. Her body was aching from her physical pain as well as emotional torment that was causing immense tension in her body. She didn't think she would have been able to get off the floor without his help. Bulma sat on the bed as Goku walked to the other side of the room, not paying any attention to what he was doing as she calmed herself and enjoyed the comfort of the bed.

"Here." Goku said, offering a drink in front of Bulma's face. She looked up at him in curiosity, slowing reaching for the drink. "It'll help you relax." He told her as she sniffed it, realizing it was whisky. The thought of the drink caused her to remember the earlier incident with Vegeta, which turned her stomach. She quickly placed the full glass on the nightstand.

"No thanks." Bulma said curtly as Goku shrugged and sipped from his own glass. He sat next to her, spinning the glass in his hand as he gazed at it thoughtfully.

"Listen, Bulma. I really do hope Trunks is okay. I don't want to see him get hurt. I don't want to see you get hurt, either." Goku said, looking up from his glass and meeting Bulma's eyes. "Don't push Vegeta." Goku warned, and Bulma twisted her mouth contemptuously, obviously being too stubborn for her own good. "I mean it, Bulma. Don't." Goku pleaded, and Bulma looked at him again, surprised to see him looking truly concerned. As far as she could remember, she had never seen Kakarot look anything but cold since she met the guy.

* * *

"My partner is sleeping right over there." Lazuli noted the silencers on the guns, and was thankful knowing Krillin would remain safe in his blissfully ignorant sleep. The men looked anxiously around the house as they stood before her, seemingly eager to kill.

"Alright. As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to need one of you to knock me out. It's the only way I can explain this happening on my watch." Lazuli admitted warily. These guys did not look like they could be trusted, and she didn't want them trying anything funny while she was knocked out.

"Okay." The tall guy with long hair answered, a little too happily. Lazuli immediately pulled her gun on him. "Woah, woah". He said as he raised his hands in the air defensively.

"I am warning you. Do not try anything funny. Kill the kid. He's in the other room." Lazuli said as she nodded with her head towards the room to Nappa, who shrugged and left to do as he was told. "When he gets back here, you will knock me out, and leave. That is it. Got it?" Lazuli threatened as Brolly smirked at her.

"I'm fucking serious." Lazuli said in a cold, warning voice. "When I come to, this place will be a crime scene. There will be forensic people here. If I find any sign of being harmed in any way besides a head injury, I will tell The Prince that you didn't follow commands." Brolly frowned at that, glaring back at Lazuli. "His orders are for you not to touch me or my partner. You kill the kid, knock me out, and leave. That. Is. It." Lazuli said sternly. Brolly frowned, and they both turned their heads to the sound of a short scuffle coming from Trunks' room. Nappa walked out with blood splattered on him and a sadistic smirk.

"Kid's dead." Nappa said with satisfaction. He looked meaningfully at Brolly, who gave a smug smile to Lazuli. She recoiled as she realized what was coming, but Brolly struck the painful blow so fast that she was out before she had the chance to budge.

* * *

Bulma instinctively was drawn to Goku's face, reaching her hand and caressing his cheek before she realized what she was doing. She felt her eyes brimming with tears as she felt overloaded with all the thoughts and emotions she was feeling at the moment. She was angry as hell at Vegeta, though she still felt love for him, which in itself made her even angrier. She was scared to death for Trunks' safety, and missed him terribly already. She was devastated for herself, her old life was gone and she felt like hell after Vegeta attacked her. She needed something to let it all out. She pulled Kakarot's face towards hers and planted a kiss on his lips, rubbing her tear-soaked mouth against his as she sighed in relief as her frustrated feelings seemed to wash away with the kiss. Kakarot seemed to know just what she needed. He allowed her to kiss him without pulling away, but didn't push any further with her, either. When Bulma released the kiss, he grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Bulma, you're going to be alright." He said comfortingly with such confidence that Bulma let out a heavy sigh as she felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders. Bulma grabbed Goku's chin gently, stroking it with her thumb for a moment before nodding and beginning to cry again. This time, the tears were readily falling, no more trying to hold them back. Bulma collapsed on the bed as Goku tucked the covers over her. Within minutes, Bulma cried herself to sleep.


	6. Identity Revealed

Identity Revealed

Lazuli opened her eyes, but before her vision registered, the first thing to hit her was the pain. Oh, her head ached so badly, she wanted to rip it off and start over. Maybe she could pass out again. "Lazuli!" She heard the worried voice, and turned in its direction to see Krillin leaning over her with a concerned expression.

"Krillin." She said quietly, her throat dry and voice hoarse as she slowly sat up. Lazuli took a careful look around the room, unable to decipher what was going on in her current state with the flurry of activity around her. "What's going on?"

"You were knocked out while I was sleeping." Krillin said bitterly, and Lazuli looked at him in surprise. Did he know that she had a part in this? "And then, they…" He shook his head, letting it drop and looking to the ground, "they killed Trunks. Trunks Briefs is dead Lazuli. We failed him." Krillin cried as he placed the back of his hand to his mouth and scowled down at the ground.

"Wait, wait, wait." Lazuli said as she righted her posture, needing to act as if she had no idea what happened. "They got the Briefs kid? How?" She forced herself to sound shocked.

"They knocked you out when they came in. Did you see them? Can you remember?" Krillin questioned hopefully. Lazuli shook her head sadly. She really was sad, not that she couldn't remember, but that she couldn't help Krillin right now. How could she have done this? She was a monster, disgusting. Lazuli scowled as she berated herself in her mind. Krillin put a comforting hand on her back. Lazuli looked at him in surprise.

"Don't blame yourself, Lazuli. I know that's a little hypocritical. It's not like I don't blame myself. What kind of cop promises to keep a kid safe and sleeps on the job when he's needed?" Krillin asked with self-hatred.

"It's not your fault, Krillin." Lazuli said vehemently. He needed to know that. It wasn't his fault. It was her fault.

"Yes it is. Our inside guy even sent me a text to warn me they were coming. I slept right through it. You didn't hear my phone go off?" Krillin asked, now slightly suspicious as that thought occurred to him. Lazuli shook her head adamantly, unable to answer when they were interrupted.

"Lazuli! Krillin! This is a fucking disaster!" They both cringed at the voice of Captain Kaio, who never bothered showing up on the scene of this kind of thing unless it was very important. "How did Vegeta find the kid? Were you two sending out some communications that he could have tracked or something?" Krillin and Lazuli looked at each other and shook their heads at a loss. At least Krillin was at a loss. Lazuli knew exactly how this happened and had to keep her mouth shut. She almost envied Krillin at the moment. She felt so fucking guilty about this. Why did her conscience have to start working now?

"I'm sorry, Captain. I think I should tell Miss Briefs myself. I promised her that I would keep her son safe, so I should be the one to tell her." Krillin said dejectedly, standing from the ground with his shoulders slumped.

"No way, Krillin!" Kaio refused. "She can't know about this yet. I already sent word to our undercover guy, and he says Miss Briefs is safe as long as she lays low. If you tell a mother that a man killed her son, she's going to go ballistic!" Kaio had his hands clasped behind his back and looked down to the ground with a thoughtful scowl.

"How did…how did he take it?" Krillin asked nervously.

"How do you think he took it?! The same as you! He wanted to protect the kid, too." Kaio lamented. "And just like you, he's blaming himself. Dammit, find someone else to blame and do your jobs!" Kaio complained in frustration. He looked up at Krillin and Lazuli and twisted his mouth at an unpleasant thought. "Speaking of doing your jobs, you two are now on suspension." Kaio demanded.

"Suspension?!" Krillin yelled angrily as Lazuli sprang to her feet. "Not now, Captain! We need to find the guy that did this! We need-" Krillin objected as Kaio cut him off.

"No, you don't! You need to go to the office for questioning. Then you need to have a chat with Roshi about this, both of you. Then you need to go home and lay low." Kaio said disappointedly.

"That's it? Captain-" Lazuli began, doing her best to argue for Krillin to get what he wanted. But she knew it was useless. This was standard procedure in an instance like this.

"And you." Kaio said, pointing at Lazuli. "You were checked out by the medic while you were out. Aside from a minor concussion and abrasions on your head, you're fine. But both of you should know that you need to go home now. And do I even need to say the other thing?" Kaio asked with resentment. No, he didn't. Lazuli looked at Krillin and knew by his expression that he knew as well. This incident put them right on top of the list for the mole suspects. They were in the best position to divulge Trunks' location to Vegeta. Lazuli would have to tell Vegeta that she'd be no good to him any longer.

That's right. She was out. Done. The thought actually made her happy. Distrust in the police department was the best thing going for her right now. Of course, Lapis was still in there. And he'd be reporting everything. Maybe she'd have a talk with him to reveal what she knew before calling it quits. "Come on, partner. Let's go." Lazuli said sadly to Krillin, grabbing his arm as she dragged the reluctant cop to the car with her.

"What partner?" Krillin muttered under his breath. "We're just Krillin and Lazuli now." Lazuli frowned and jumped in the passenger seat, waiting for Krillin to drive, hoping he was capable of paying enough attention to do so. Krillin sat stoically in the driver's seat, unmoving.

"Come on, Krillin." Lazuli said encouragingly, rubbing Krillin's shoulder. Krillin sighed and started the car. She saw tears rimming his eyes, and tried to imagine what Krillin must have thought when he woke up. Finding Lazuli bloody and knocked out on the ground, Trunks dead in the bed, and a missed text that could have prevented it all. Of course he was devastated. They slipped in right under his nose, and he was useless to stop it. It was all her fault. Dammit, if Krillin was this upset about Trunks Briefs, Lazuli refused to have a part in his ex-partner's death. If she told Vegeta that Kakarot was a cop, the man would be finished. Then how would Krillin be when he heard about that one? Lazuli looked at Krillin's distant and despondent expression again. She would have a talk with Lapis; he needed to know how wrong they were. He needed to get out of this thing, too.

* * *

Lazuli sat in her living room, waiting for her brother to knock at her door. It had been a long fucking day. Now she just wanted to get this conversation overwith. It had to happen now, she couldn't wait until tomorrow. When the doorbell finally rang, she sprung from her couch, opening the door hastily.

"Hey." Lapis said as he walked in, hands in his pockets and comfortably confident. "You know," he said as he brushed past Lazuli, glancing over his shoulder at her, "you should answer your door a little more carefully. It could have been someone else." Lazuli scoffed at her brother, though she knew he was right. She closed the door and returned to her spot on the couch, pulling her legs up on the couch cushion comfortably, returning to drinking the tea she had before her brother arrived. He watched her drink with an annoyed expression. "Aren't you going to offer me any?"

"This isn't a social call, Lapis. I've had a long day, okay?" Lazuli snapped. "Just sit down so I can tell you something. Then you can go home." Lapis shrugged indifferently and joined his sister on the couch, stretching his arms across the back of the sofa and crossing his legs as he relaxed with a sigh.

"So. What is it?" He said as he cocked an eyebrow, almost challengingly at his sister. Lazuli was in no mood for his attitude.

"Trunks Briefs is dead."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Lapis scoffed with a light chuckle.

"And I'm on suspension. I'm out, Lapis. You're on your own now if you want to keep working for Vegeta." Lazuli stated matter of factly.

"Fine." He shrugged. Lazuli frowned at him, staring at her brother until he looked back at her and became confused at her expression. "What?"

"If I'm not there to watch your back, you're going to get your ass caught." Lazuli warned.

"Yeah, right." He smirked at his sister. "I need to find who this undercover guy is, _then_ I'll get out of it if you're so worried about me." Lapis replied with sarcasm. He knew she wasn't worried about him. There was something else going on here.

"I already know who the undercover guy is. But we're not telling Vegeta." Lazuli stated boldly as her brother gawked at her.

"Who the hell is it? When were you going to tell me this?" Lapis asked disbelievingly.

"I just found out last night when the guys came to kill the kid. He tried to warn Krillin. Luckily for me, Krillin was asleep and I got the text. But this undercover guy was Krillin's partner for a long time, they're close." Lazuli said, cringing at the softness that her voice took as she spoke of Krillin. She absolutely hated showing her soft side to Lapis. She looked at him to see a smile planted on his smug face. The bastard. He found her out.

"I see. You just don't want to upset your boyfriend. Was he crying when he found Trunks Briefs murdered?" Lapis mocked coldly. Lazuli threw the contents of what remained in her teacup in Lapis' face. He immediately glared back at her, all amusement gone. Lazuli glared right back. "Listen, bitch." Lapis said through his teeth. "I need this money. I will tell Vegeta and he'll pay us handsomely, and we can run off somewhere, wherever the hell we want to go. Now who is it?" Lazuli crossed her arms and continued to glare at her brother stubbornly.

"Let's see…" Lapis began as he pulled out his cell phone, scrolling with his thumb as he began reading off of it to his sister. "Is it Nappa?" He studied Lazuli's expression as she remained unresponsive, but internally shuddered at the thought of Lapis being able to read her if he guessed the right name. "Raditz?"

"I can't believe you still want to do this. I told you I don't want to tell Vegeta."

"Kakarot?" Lazuli tensed, just for an instant, forcing herself to relax so her brother wouldn't notice a reaction. Lapis studied her suspiciously, then nodded defeatedly. "Alright, fine. I'll go home. _I_ still have a job to get back to after all. I'm sure Yamcha will have plenty of information to tell me about tomorrow." Lapis put his phone away and stood from the couch, grabbing a paper towel from the kitchen and wiping the splattered tea off his skin and clothing before heading to the front door.

"Goodbye, Lapis." Lazuli said monotonously as she opened the door for him, slamming it behind him as he left. She knew she couldn't trust her brother. He was playing it off like he was giving in, but she still felt the need to warn Krillin, in case he caught on and was up to something.

* * *

Goku hummed a tune and tapped his fingers as he drove back from driving Vegeta wherever they had just gone. Vegeta didn't always tell Goku where they were going, and it wasn't his business to ask. The place they were leaving looked like a laundry facility, but Goku was sure that Vegeta was meeting with someone in there, possibly making an exchange of some sort. Goku glanced at Vegeta to find that the other man had been glaring at him. He frowned and immediately stopped tapping and humming, which seemed to appease the boss. "Sorry." Goku muttered as he turned his eyes back to the road. Vegeta had been terribly uptight all day and yesterday, probably because of Trunks. It couldn't be easy for him to keep pretending he was searching for the boy for Bulma's sake. She was not an easy woman to fool.

* * *

Lazuli stood outside Krillin's front door, waiting impatiently for him to answer as yet another icy gust of wind blew, causing a shiver up her spine. She had texted him shortly after Lapis left, and told him she'd be coming over right away. He never responded. Either he didn't get the text or he was angry with her. Or maybe he just didn't want to talk to anyone. She knocked again.

"Krillin!" She yelled into the door, thinking she was ready to give him a piece of her mind once she got in there if he was indeed ignoring her in there. After a moment, she heard a muffled voice through the door.

"Go away, Lazuli." Krillin was calm and sounded very depressed.

"Krillin! This is important. It can't wait." Lazuli urged as she trembled at another icy gust. "Please let me in, I'm freezing my ass off out here!" The door opened slowly, and Krillin stood back with his head down, letting Lazuli enter his apartment as he kept his eyes to the ground. Lazuli stepped in hesitantly. "You…doing alright, Krillin?" Lazuli asked.

"Fine." Krillin replied with a sigh as he shut the door behind her. Krillin crossed his arms and continued looking at the ground. "What's so urgent?" Lazuli gulped nervously.

* * *

"How's Bulma?" Goku asked carefully.

"Bulma?" Vegeta repeated indignantly. "_She's _fantastic. Thinks her son is nice and safe. I'm the one who knows about his death and has to keep pretending it never happened." Vegeta complained. Goku rolled his eyes. Vegeta was an enigma. If it was going to be this hard for him to handle the boy's death, why did he order it in the first place?

"I saw that." Vegeta grumbled. Goku looked back at him in surprise. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Kakarot. I know what you're thinking. I had no choice." Vegeta looked out the window as he spoke, and Goku felt bad for him. Feeling sympathetic towards the man who had his own innocent son murdered. Goku shook his head at the disturbing thought.

"Where do you want to go now, Vegeta?" Goku asked, realizing he was just about to get off the highway exit and didn't have a destination yet. Vegeta eyed Goku carefully as they got off the exit, then his eyes lit with an idea.

"I need a drink. Stop at the next bar you see, any bar." Vegeta said as Goku seemed to be driving and not paying attention to his request. "Kakarot?" Vegeta prompted. Goku nodded absently, paying more attention to the businesses on the street as he began seeking out a bar. Vegeta sighed and crossed his arms, sinking deeply into his seat. After a few minutes of driving in silence, Vegeta perked up and pointed. "There, Kakarot! Stop there!" Vegeta demanded, and Goku looked ahead to see the bar Vegeta spotted, pulling into the parking lot.

They climbed out of the car and went inside, Goku cringing at the idea of drinking with Vegeta. Getting intoxicated in any way with Vegeta was not a wise idea, but Goku knew Vegeta would not settle for drinking alone, and the other guys were all busy with other tasks at the moment.

* * *

"You'll need to sit down for this." Lazuli said as she grabbed the nearest chair from the dining table near the front door and nudged Krillin towards it. Krillin sat and looked up at Lazuli with a strange expression. Was he interested, or confused, or…Lazuli was shocked when Krillin stood back up from the seat where she was standing over him. She was more shocked when he abruptly pulled her towards him and kissed her. He actually kissed her. Oh, the kiss felt so good, and it was so unexpected. But, this was bad. This was very bad. Krillin would be even more pissed now when she told him what she needed to say. She reluctantly pushed him away, pushing on his shoulders to get him back down in the seat. He looked back at her confused and hurt. That expression she understood.

"It's not what you think." She told him as she placed her hand to her lips which still tingled from the kiss. "I have to confess something, and I think after I do, you wouldn't want to be kissing me." Lazuli sat in the seat next to Krillin, realizing she needed to hurry this conversation in case her brother decided to act right away. She twiddled her fingers anxiously as she struggled to find the words she needed to say. How the hell could she start? Krillin observed Lazuli carefully, becoming increasingly uncomfortable at her anxiety.

"Lazuli, what is this all about?" Krillin questioned slowly suspiciously. "Just tell me you didn't-"

"Dammit, Krillin!" Lazuli spat as she lost her control with her building frustration. "Do you want to lose someone else? Just listen to me right now. You can be angry later. Vegeta is going to kill your partner." Krillin's mouth dropped in shock, and he looked at Lazuli with such hurt in his eyes that she shut her eyes and looked away, unable to bear the weight of his stare.

* * *

Vegeta and Goku stumbled out of the bar, Goku hailing a taxi when he realized there was no way he was driving after indulging in so much alcohol in such a short time. Vegeta insisted on taking the car.

"I'll drive if you're so incapable." Vegeta spat, heading for the driver's seat.

"Vegeta, you're drunk as hell. What if you get pulled over?" Goku warned, but Vegeta wasn't hearing any of it tonight.

"Get in the fucking car or walk home, Kakarot!" Vegeta yelled. Goku shrugged and sat in the passenger seat, hoping for Vegeta's sake that they would make it back to the mansion unscathed. He sat expectantly as he waited for Vegeta to start the car, but he didn't even start the ignition. Goku looked at Vegeta curiously as Vegeta began to chuckle to himself.

* * *

"You…you…" Krillin started as he grabbed Lazuli tightly by the arms and shook her, "you're the mole?!" Krillin pushed Lazuli from him as he stood and paced the room frantically. "Why would you do this?! How could you? I can't-" Lazuli stood and smacked Krillin lightly in the face to cease his ranting.

"You need to warn him. Now." Lazuli said insistently as she grabbed her phone from her pocket and handed it to Krillin. Krillin looked at the phone, frowning deeply, then set his mouth in a hard line of determination as he grabbed the phone. Without another word, he dialed Goku's number, hoping to reach him.

* * *

"Is something funny, Vegeta?" Goku asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring the buzzing of his cell phone vibrating in his pocket as he reached in and turned the phone off. Vegeta only shook his head, continuing to chuckle as he dropped his chin to his chest. He calmed down and mumbled something under his breath that Goku couldn't understand. "What?" Goku asked.

"I said," Vegeta answered irritably, "you think you can make a fucking fool of me?!" Vegeta asked angrily as Goku jumped back in surprise at Vegeta's sudden aggression. "Well, you were wrong, Kakarot." Vegeta said as he pulled out his gun, pointing it at Goku's head. "I know you're a fucking cop."

* * *

Krillin and Lazuli waited anxiously for a response, any response as he tried Goku again with his own cell phone. The calls just went to voicemail. The texts went unanswered. Krillin didn't have to worry any more about exposing Goku, Lazuli already took care of that. She felt like she was going to be sick. Krillin's hateful, judgemental glares hurt more than any painful experience Lazuli had ever felt before. And this lack of response from Goku was unnerving. Lazuli sighed uncomfortably.

* * *

"Vegeta…" Goku began trying to reason with the man, glancing out of his peripheral vision to see if he might be lucky enough to be spotted through the car window by any witnesses. Unfortunately, the windows were fogging from the frigid outdoor temperature, and no one who passed by seemed to notice the driver of this car pointing a gun point blank at his passenger. "I'm a fucking cop?" Goku asked challengingly. Vegeta faltered in disbelief at his boldness.

"Yes! You are a fucking cop, Gokuuu." Vegeta drawled the name rancorously. "Unbelievable! I fucking trusted you!" Vegeta yelled furiously as he pistol whipped Goku in the face. Goku growled in pain and held his hands to his bleeding face while sneering at Vegeta, though there was nothing he could do in retaliation with Vegeta pointing that gun in his face. He composed himself stubbornly before deciding to speak.

"Don't let it get to you, Vegeta. I always get them to trust me." Goku replied cockily as he figured Vegeta was never going to change his mind now. He knew Goku was the cop. Vegeta angrily raised the gun, ready to shoot. "Wait!" Goku yelled as he threw his hands up defensively. Vegeta sneered and prepared to shoot anyways, so Goku continued quickly. "Listen! The D.A. will give you immunity for helping me bring in Frieza!" Goku shouted. He glanced up warily at Vegeta, happy to not be shot yet and even more so to see Vegeta's mind working over the offer.

"An immunity deal...for me?" Vegeta asked skeptically. Goku nodded, slowly lowering his hands, though Vegeta still had the gun on him. Vegeta laughed. "That Piccolo bastard must be shitting himself!" Vegeta blurted, and Goku couldn't help laughing with him. Saying Piccolo was not happy about the deal was a massive understatement. Vegeta stopped laughing and suddenly became very serious, frowning at Goku.

"I'll pass on your deal. I'd get much more pleasure out of killing you." Vegeta smirked as he spoke, and Goku winced in anticipation when both driver and passenger door opened swiftly and abruptly. Goku and Vegeta both turned in surprise to find guns in their faces from the men outside the car who had interrupted them.

"Hand over the gun, Vegeta." The one by Vegeta's door said as he outstretched his free hand. "Nice and slowly." He instructed at Vegeta's hasty movement. Vegeta reluctantly handed over his gun with a growl as he stared down the barrel of the one in his face. "Now get out of the car. You, too." The man instructed to both Vegeta and Goku. Goku and Vegeta exchanged a glance, knowing they were both in deep shit now. No lowly criminal would come after Vegeta like this. This was Frieza's work.

* * *

"Krillin…do you want me to leave?" Lazuli asked uncertainly.

"No." Krillin scoffed. "Not that I want you around me right now." Krillin added with spite. "But if Goku responds and he needs help, I might need the backup. That is, if you know whose side you're on now." Krillin added accusatorially. Lazuli scoffed and crossed her arms uncomfortably.

"I'm on your side, Krillin." She said in a cold tone, but with dedication that threw Krillin for a loop, judging by the surprised frown on his face. As they continued waiting, Lazuli decided to make some coffee, helping herself to Krillin's kitchen. It seemed like this was going to be a long night.


	7. Frieza

A/N: This chapter contains violence and reference to G/V that is pretty graphic, just wanted to put a little warning before you read. Also seeing that this is a real world A/U, I described a human appearance for Frieza, hopefully it is believable

Frieza

Goku slowly opened his eyes, feeling an extreme grogginess as he tried to figure out where he was. His head was aching and he felt nauseous. He smelled a strange chemical odor, and as his eyes opened he saw a lot of concrete. It looked like a warehouse or something. Goku tried to rub his head, but found that he couldn't budge his hands. They were bound together tightly behind his back as he sat on this cold concrete, his back leaned against a wall. Goku's posture became rigid and he gasped when he felt the wall move against his back. He suddenly recognized the warmth radiating off the wall as he heard a groan right behind him.

"What happened?" Goku heard the hoarse voice, almost in his ear, and frowned deeply as he recognized the voice and remembered everything.

"Vegeta." Goku sighed and hung his head. He felt Vegeta tense behind him and begin growling in frustration as he struggled against the bindings on his wrists. After the gunmen in the parking lot drew Goku and Vegeta out of the car, they ushered them into the back of a van where a whole crew of men were ready for them. Before they even started the engine, Goku had been surprised by someone clamping their hand around his mouth and nose with a chemical smelling cloth that he recognized as chloroform at the time. Goku heard Vegeta's muffled yelling and scuffling as he struggled to fight off the person clamping around his mouth. He felt the drug taking effect and noticed the self-satisfied smirks on most of the men's faces as his limbs went limp and his eyes shut against his wishes. And now here they were, wherever here was. It didn't appear that anyone else was around at the moment. They were probably being observed from afar somehow.

"Vegeta, if we work together, we might be able to get out of here." Goku whispered discreetly as he took note of their surroundings, searching for an opportunity to escape.

"Shut up." Vegeta responded, making Goku frown in disappointment. "I don't work with traitors."

"Actually, I'm not a traitor, Vegeta. I was never on your side." Goku said pointedly, instantly regretting his smugness as he needed to get Vegeta to cooperate right now, not egg him on.

"You are such a hypocrit, Kakarot. All of you undercover cops are." Vegeta sneered. "You all act so high and mighty, being on the right side of the law and using police work as an excuse to do what we do without having to accept responsibility for your crimes."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Vegeta!" Goku hissed in frustration, wishing he could get the other man to do something productive before someone showed up. He was sure they didn't have much time now.

"I'm talking about how much you love the action, the violence, the women. Don't try to pretend with me. I know that was all real, or you would have never lasted in my crew for as long as you did." Vegeta accused, and Goku rolled his eyes with an annoyed growl.

"Sure, Vegeta. Now, can we start working together to get out of here? Do you think you can untie me?" Goku asked hopefully as he tried to wiggle his fingers over to find Vegeta's.

"Though, now that I think back on everything since discovering your betrayal, there are certain things that make sense. I should have seen it before." Vegeta said, completely ignoring Goku's attempts to escape. Goku figured if he played along, maybe Vegeta would cooperate once he's said everything he needed to say. In the meantime, he'd continue trying to free himself while they talked.

"Like what, Vegeta?" Goku asked defeatedly.

"Like finding you at the police station after being with us for only a few months. That was right after that Arlia job. I bet you thought you had evidence against me then, didn't you?" Vegeta questioned. Goku didn't answer, and Vegeta thrust his elbow into Goku's back. Goku grunted in pain at the unexpected assault.

"Yes." Goku admitted with a hiss.

"And after that…after I cast you out. When you came back and wormed your way back into my good graces, into my bed, that was all an act?" Vegeta asked with open curiosity. Goku sighed.

"Yes." He answered lowly. Vegeta moved, Goku guessed he was nodding to himself by the shaking feel of the movement against his back.

"So…do you even like cock?" Vegeta asked. Goku could detect the trace of taunting to Vegeta's voice and frowned knowing where he was going with this. Goku wasn't going to answer that question. It didn't matter. It seemed Vegeta knew the answer already. He burst out laughing. Laughing at him. Goku growled angrily, thrashing in frustration as he wished he could lash out at Vegeta somehow.

"You could have fooled me!" Vegeta laughed again. "You cops are pathetic!" Vegeta spat hatefully. "Not only are you hypocrits, but you really will do _anything_ to make an arrest." Vegeta accused with loathing in his voice. He was thrashing violently against Goku's back, probably just as frustrated that they couldn't harm each other with more than words.

"Shut up, Vegeta!" Goku yelled out of frustration. "I did what I had to. _You_ didn't seem to mind." Goku replied cockily, feeling happy with himself when Vegeta froze and quieted down for a minute. Then Vegeta hissed and let out an eerie chuckle.

"You're right, Kakarot. I like to fuck, men or women, I'm not picky. And you offered yourself so willingly…" Vegeta taunted in a husky voice. Goku growled and plunged an elbow into Vegeta's back, but he only grumbled in pain and continued taunting. "It must have been so hard to lay there as I pounded into your ass, if you really were just pretending to enjoy it." Vegeta let the implication hang in the air, and Goku felt like he was going to retch as Vegeta's narrative resurfaced the vivid memory. "Just admit it, Kakarot. You liked it. If we get out of this alive, we could…" Goku waited, surprised that Vegeta stopped talking so suddenly.

"Vegeta?" Goku asked as he attempted to look over his shoulder, but in the position he was in, it was useless. Goku froze as he heard another voice in the room.

"Don't mind me. Please continue. That was a stimulating conversation you were having. I rather enjoyed it." Goku heard footsteps approaching and Vegeta tensed behind him. "Well? Don't you have more to say, Vegeta?" The voice was male, but effeminate. That did not detract at all from the austerity and ferociousness of the voice, though. Judging by the way that Vegeta was frozen still behind him and not answering, Goku guessed that Vegeta found their visitor just as unsettling as he did.

The footsteps continued, until Goku was able to glance out of his peripheral vision and see the man standing just alongside them. He felt Vegeta's hair brush against his as they both turned their heads up to look at the man standing over them. He paused there, then slowly paced closer to Goku, stopping right in front of him and squatting down to take a closer look as he grabbed Goku roughly by the chin.

"And this is the cop, huh? The one that succeeded in bringing down Vegeta." Goku watched the man whose eyes were right in front of his, studying him carefully. God, this man's looks were creepier than his voice. He wore a tailored white shirt and dark purple vest and trousers, a colorful character. His white hair was crew cut to the point of almost baldness. He had a white goatee and a notable scar above his eyebrow and general hardness about his face. His face…his face was contorted in a constant sneer, even when he smiled at Goku he seemed to still be sneering. His gaze was cold, and his eyes were impossible to look into, they were so lifeless. Goku knew immediately at the sight of him that this was Frieza. The man's appearance screamed cold blooded, mass murdering sociopath. After a few minutes of taking each other in, Goku and Frieza were startled by Vegeta's objection.

"He did not succeed at bringing me down, Frieza!" Vegeta derided proudly. "Does it look like he's winning anything right now?" Vegeta challenged. Frieza chuckled and released Goku's chin as he stood. Frieza paced back to standing between his two prisoners.

"I guess you're right about that, Vegeta." Frieza stated casually as he placed his hands in his pockets. "But that's all history now. Now, you're both dead."

"We obviously aren't dead yet. Why are you keeping us alive?" Goku asked, causing Vegeta to growl and elbow him again. "Would you stop that?!" Goku susurrated over his shoulder.

Frieza snapped his fingers and a tall red-headed man came running in, pulling up a chair for Frieza, which he promptly sat in. Apparently this was a regular routine they had down. "I'm very disappointed in you, Vegeta. You seemed to be finally coming around when you agreed to dinner the other night." Vegeta scoffed rudely as he was about to interrupt, and Frieza kicked his foot out, crushing against Vegeta's arm so quickly that neither Goku nor Vegeta had a chance to flinch. "I'm talking right now. You'll get your turn." Frieza chided as Vegeta grimaced in pain for his limp arm. "To find that you were planning to steal from me when I was offering you the opportunity to work for me." Vegeta spat at Frieza's feet rebelliously, earning him another kick, harsher and with more emotion behind it this time as Frieza's expression became enraged.

"I would never work for you, Frieza!" Vegeta protested. "Your _offer_ was laughable! I despise you!" Vegeta growled. As Vegeta continued insulting Frieza, Goku was trying to warn Vegeta in a low voice to stop; he knew this wasn't going to end up well for him. Of course, he should have known, Vegeta didn't know when to stop. Frieza allowed Vegeta to spew out his insults until he stopped. Then he slid off his chair and approached Vegeta, pulling something out of his pocket. The rest of what he did Goku could not see. But it happened quickly, and Vegeta cried out in pain, his body lurching forward.

"Vegeta!" Goku yelled helplessly, hoping Frieza wasn't killing him. Frieza returned to his seat, wiping a bloody knife with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. He snapped again and the tall man returned, retrieving the bloody cloth and giving Frieza a clean one which he promptly placed in his pocket along with the knife. Vegeta coughed and groaned as his head lulled back against Goku. At least he was still alive.

"Don't talk back to me again, Vegeta. Now, as for why you're both still here. There are two very good reasons for that." Frieza said with a sinister smile as he leaned forward in his seat with his hands clasped and forearms resting on his thighs. "It's been so very long since I've had a full day open to torture someone. Usually I'm in such a hurry to get somewhere, but today I can take my time with you two. And I will enjoy it." Goku glared at Frieza, assuming Vegeta was doing the same thing as Frieza smiled back, glancing between the two with a look of mirth.

"You said there were two reasons." Goku prompted impatiently. Why he was impatient, he wasn't sure. The next thing on Frieza's agenda was torture, not something Goku should be in a hurry for. Frieza frowned at Goku, looking rather unamused by his impatience.

"Yes, the second one is ironically close to home for both of you." Frieza smiled. He slid off his chair and knelt down in front of Goku again. "You see, I have a lot of new people working for me right now, and I know one of them is a cop." Frieza raised his eyebrows and nodded at Goku meaningfully as Goku shook his head in objection.

"No! That's not true!" Goku retorted, knowing Captain Kaio would never send a cop on such an assignment.

"I know when there is a cop in my midst, and I plan to use you to weed him out." Frieza pulled out his knife again and slowly twirled the blade in his hand as Goku observed the sharp, shining edge, still caked with a few spots of Vegeta's blood. Frieza leaned in to Goku as Goku tried to lean away, but had nowhere to go. Frieza whispered in his ear. "I wonder how close he'll let you get to death before he becomes heroic enough to save you."

Goku gasped at the sudden sharp pain in his upper thigh as Frieza thrust the knife into him while still keeping his face inches from Goku. He screamed and contorted his face in pain as the knife was twisted in his leg and ripped back out, tearing through his skin again as it pulled out. "I hope you have a high tolerance for pain." Frieza whispered, smiling triumphantly at Goku's pained expression. He chuckled as he stood up again, wiping the knife as before while heading back to his seat. Goku and Vegeta were both panting to control their pain and prepare for more. "By the way, what do I call you? Goku or Kakarot?" Frieza asked conversationally, very casual with his two prisoners as he snapped his fingers absently for another clean handkerchief.

"Goku"/"Kakarot". Vegeta and Goku both answered at the same time. Frieza smirked in amusement as he wiped his knife clean, then looked at Goku.

"Goku it is then. I wasn't asking you, Vegeta." Frieza added with a playful scoff as he lazily waved the knife while conversing.

"God, if you're going to kill me, just do it now." Vegeta groaned.

"You should have helped me escape when we had the chance." Goku hissed through clenched teeth, hoping Frieza would not notice.

"Fuck you, Kakarot." Vegeta replied hastily.

"Fine! If you don't want my help, you're going to die today, Vegeta! Is that what you want?"

"I'd rather die tha-" Vegeta stopped talking as Goku felt Frieza grab his head and forcefully slam it against Vegeta's. He wouldn't be surprised if that cracked his skull, their heads hit so hard. "Ffffuck!" Vegeta yelled out in agony.

"No more talking to each other, unless I tell you to." Frieza scolded as Goku and Vegeta attempted to shake off their pain. Goku looked up as he heard footsteps running towards Frieza, and saw another of Frieza's men speaking in hushed tones to his boss. Frieza nodded and instructed the man, beginning to walk away as he shouted, "Don't worry! I'll be right back!" As soon as Frieza left the room, Goku ignored the long-haired hired man watching them and started talking to Vegeta again.

"You think Raditz or the others might find us?" Goku asked doubtfully. Vegeta scoffed, confirming his suspicion. The other guys working for Vegeta were great as muscle, but not too bright. Without Vegeta or Goku there to lead them, chances were very slim of them locating their boss. "The department might. But they don't know much about Frieza, so I wouldn't count on them. Do you have any idea where we are?" Goku asked. Vegeta sighed heavily as he hesitated answering. Finally, when Goku thought he was still not cooperating, Vegeta answered.

"I don't know where we are. I never did business with Frieza, remember? And just like you, I was knocked out when they brought us here. Maybe Frieza's undercover guy will save the day." Vegeta added sarcastically.

"Frieza doesn't know what he's talking about." Goku replied as he shook his head. "There's no way there is an undercover cop working under Frieza." Goku argued.

"Frieza is a lot of things, Kakarot. But wrong is not one of them. If he says there is a cop amongst his men, I believe there is one. Not that it does us any good." Vegeta complained bitterly.

"Hey, you're right!" Goku said brightly as Vegeta's bitter comment gave him an idea. Vegeta made a questioning sound in his throat at Goku's response, and they heard a door open as Frieza came prancing happily back into the room carrying a toolbox. Goku groaned at the chilling sight.

"What? Is Frieza back?" Vegeta asked anxiously in a hushed voice as he was not the one facing Frieza this time.

"Yeah, and he's got a toolbox." Goku whispered back.

"How original, Frieza. A toolbox?" Vegeta said insultingly as soon as Frieza was within hearing range. Frieza perked his head in Vegeta's direction and took a few more steps towards him, dropping the toolbox on Vegeta's foot. "Argh!" Vegeta cried out as his foot was crushed under the heavy weight. Frieza retrieved the toolbox, reclaiming his seat and opening the box, sorting through it as if he was looking through a surprise gift basket.

"I said no talking." Frieza said distantly as he inspected his belongings. "I know _you_ didn't see the toolbox, Vegeta." Frieza said as he looked up to meet Goku's eyes pointedly.

"So why didn't you crush _his_ foot?!" Vegeta complained. Frieza declined to answer, ignoring Vegeta as he continued inspecting. Vegeta growled, furious at being ignored, but Goku quickly shushed him.

"Vegeta! Let me handle this." Goku looked towards Frieza and raised his voice. "You know this isn't going to work." Goku informed Frieza confidently. Frieza looked up from his toolbox at Goku with a curious expression.

"Not going to work? What part?" Frieza asked with interest.

"The part where your undercover guy is going to give himself away to save my life. We don't do that." Goku smiled smugly at Frieza.

Frieza put his toolbox on the ground and stood from his seat, beginning to pace thoughtfully just in front of it. "You don't do that." Frieza repeated thoughtfully as he crossed his arms. "You also said you don't have any cops here." Frieza pointed out. Goku shrugged.

"Either way, your plan won't work, will it?" Goku challenged. Frieza stopped pacing and smiled brightly at Goku, pointing at him with a laugh.

"You're good at this. But guess what." Frieza said as his expression became serious. "I'm willing to bet that this cop doesn't follow the rules too well. If he isn't supposed to be here in the first place, and he _is_, I _know_ he is, then maybe he'll break the rules to save you. Either way, I can enjoy killing you slowly and never produce my traitor, or I can kill you slowly and kill him. My plan sounds pretty good to me." Frieza said with an excited nod as he reached into his toolbox.

"Great idea, genius." Vegeta grumbled. "Have any other ideas?" Goku cleared his throat.

"You know, the department will find us here eventually. It's only a matter of time. I wear tracking devices, you know. And I'm sure by now they've realized I'm missing." Goku bluffed some of that information. He really did have tracking devices, but wasn't wearing any when he went out with Vegeta. Frieza remained unphased, meerly shrugging as he narrowed his eyes at his subjects deviously. He approached them with a hammer and a sadistic smirk, and Goku knew that he and Vegeta better prepare themselves. This was going to be a long day.


	8. What Rescue Party?

What Rescue Party?

"Well?" Kaio asked with urgency into his phone. Piccolo frowned upon seeing Kaio's reaction as a muffled voice spoke on the other end of the line. It was another dead end, he knew it. The shit had definitely hit the fan. Maybe they should have listened to Kaio. Piccolo turned back to Kaio who was hanging up the phone and staring at him with the 'I told you so' look. "Are you happy now?" Kaio asked Piccolo accusingly.

"Me?" Piccolo questioned with a scoff. "_Everyone_ wanted to go along with this plan but you. Besides," Piccolo added as he crossed his arms, "we need to focus now on finding Goku. What did your man say?" Piccolo asked as he nodded towards the phone. Captain Kaio sighed.

"No sign of Goku or Vegeta outside the mansion. Vegeta's men have been coming and going, seemingly quite disturbed about something. It seems they are both missing. Just disappeared!" Kaio complained with frustration as he pounded a fist on his desk.

"Have you talked to Krillin?" Piccolo asked. Kaio shook his head in denial. Krillin and his suspended partner were not supposed to be involved any longer, but they couldn't deny that those two cops were closer to this case than any others after the incident with Trunks Briefs. Maybe Krillin or even Lazuli knew something. Kaio gave a sharp nod to Piccolo.

"I'll give Krillin a call." He decided as he reached for his phone, and Piccolo left the office without bothering to say goodbye. He had a lot of work ahead of him. After all, he'd need to prepare for someone to be going on trial soon if Goku came out of this alright.

* * *

"Where is Vegeta?" Lazuli asked, glaring daggers at her traitorous brother.

"I told you a hundred times already, Lazuli. I. Don't. Know." Lapis answered expasperatedly as he glared at Lazuli's little bald friend by her side.

"Stop staring at him." Lazuli responded, as she noticed her brother's gaze making Krillin uncomfortable. "I'm talking to you." She added when Lapis ignored her demand.

"Look, Lapis." Krillin butted in when Lapis continued staring at him. "My friend is in trouble thanks to you and your sister. We need to find him." Krillin spoke bravely against the man who had been trying to belittle him, and Lazuli was actually impressed.

"Chances are, Vegeta is in trouble, too." Lapis responded with an indifferent shrug. Lazuli and Krillin exchanged a perplexed glance. "And if you don't keep your mouth shut, me and Lazuli aren't doing too well either." Lapis added threateningly.

"Why would you think Vegeta is in trouble, Lapis?" Lazuli asked curiously, temporarily dropping her confrontational attitude.

"Because," Lapis sighed as he sank comfortably into the cushion of his couch while Krillin and Lazuli continued standing, "his guys found my number, and they've been asking me the same questions you are." Krillin and Lazuli frowned at each other as this new information sank in. "Maybe now that I've told all of you that I have no idea where Vegeta or this Goku guy are, everyone will leave me alone about this." Lapis complained as he picked up his remote, preparing to turn on his TV and tune out Krillin and Lazuli. Lazuli quickly snatched the remote from his hand before he could do so, earning a furious scowl from her brother.

"Just tell us the last thing Vegeta told you before you lost track of him." Lazuli insisted as she held the remote out of her brother's reach and maintained a cold stare. Lapis sighed in annoyance, rolling his eyes as he answered.

"I told him that Kakarot was his cop. He seemed pissed. Really pissed." Lapis frowned casually as he paused for a moment. "He did say he'd be driving around with the guy and take care of him tonight. That was last night, of course. But he was supposed to call me again today, so I'd know that things went smoothly and I could show my face in the department today. He never called." Lapis looked directly at Krillin with a slightly amused smirk. "Most likely, your friend is already dead, whether Vegeta did it or someone else. Sorry." Lapis added irreverently with a shrug, extending his hand to Lazuli for his remote. Lazuli looked at Krillin, who met her gaze and nodded. They got all they were going to get out of Lapis. He wasn't going to be any more useful.

"By the way, Lapis." Lazuli added on their way out as Krillin opened the front door. "If I were you, I'd get out of here. Once the dust settles, no one is going to give a shit what happens to you. Not even me."

* * *

Lazuli and Krillin arrived at the Saiyajin Mansion shortly after leaving Lapis' apartment. They were still working unofficially, and figured they should have no problems coming and going from the mansion while both Vegeta's men and the police force were working to find the pair of men. Krillin knew Bulma would cooperate with them if she knew anything, and maybe some other women in the mansion might know something.

They walked in and were quickly greeted by Mr. Satan, who smiled and offered to take their coats, which Krillin readily gave, while Lazuli insisted she would like to keep hers to herself. She preferred to be as fully clothed as possible in a place like this. Plus, they weren't planning on being here long. Krillin watched Mr. Satan carefully, debating whether to ask the man some questions. He quickly decided against it, though. The man seemed quite oblivious to the comings and goings of the place, and Krillin really did not want to waste any time talking to more people who didn't know anything. He needed to talk to Bulma. As if on cue, the blue-haired beauty came strolling down the staircase, smiling at Krillin in recognition. As much as she put up a warm and elegant front, Krillin could see a notable difference in her from the last time he visited, and wondered if she might know about her son's fate. Maybe she was just worried about Vegeta.

"Detective." She greeted with a nod and a curious inspection of Lazuli. "It is rare for a man to come in here with a woman by his side."

"This is Lazuli, she's my…partner." Krillin explained the relationship for the sake of saving time. "I'm here because I need to talk to you." Krillin said very seriously, to which Bulma nodded knowingly.

"I'm not surprised. I figured you'd show up." Bulma answered. "Will your…_partner_ be joining us?" Bulma asked, her tone hinting at suspicion of a different type of relationship between Krillin and Lazuli. Lazuli rolled her eyes at the implication.

"No. I'll keep myself busy." Lazuli answered abruptly, eyeing the room for an intended target. She looked back to Bulma. "Actually, is there anyone in particular here who is close to Kakarot?" Lazuli asked, figuring she'd narrow her pool of potentials. Bulma smiled warmly.

"Kakarot is close to a lot of people here, Detective." Bulma glanced around the room thoughtfully. "Of course, you could question Vegeta's associates downstairs, but I don't think they'd take too kindly to that. I'm not sure how discreet you two are trying to be here." Lazuli scoffed.

"Yeah. That would not go well. I need someone who won't be skiddish about speaking to a detective." Bulma smirked at Lazuli.

"Ok. In that case, talk to Chi-Chi." Bulma pointed the woman out, who turned to the sound of her name. "She's Kakarot's favorite." Bulma added with a wink, grabbing Krillin by the hand and leading him back to her office.

Lazuli walked over to Chi-Chi, who was curiously watching her approach. Chi-Chi quickly stood to meet Lazuli with an amused smirk on her face. "A woman? Bulma's branching out with the business. Come with me." Chi-Chi said smiling as she reached for Lazuli's hand. Lazuli quickly pulled it away, causing Chi-Chi to look at her in confusion.

"Just lead the way." Lazuli said coldly as she preferred to start this conversation without any prying eyes. Chi-Chi warily observed Lazuli for a moment before nodding slowly and walking to a private bedroom, closing the door behind her. Chi-Chi laid herself on the bed, just like she usually did with clients. "Cut the act, I'm just here to talk about Kakarot." Lazuli said with a tone of boredom as she paced around the room, picking up and disinterestedly inspecting things.

"Oh." Chi-Chi said in confusion, sitting upright. "Are you his girlfriend or something?" Lazuli turned to the woman with a smirk. It sounded like she was disappointed.

"No. I'm a detective, and Kakarot is missing. You see, he's an undercover cop." Lazuli said, watching for Chi-Chi's reaction with interest. As expected, Chi-Chi's mouth dropped in shock.

"That bastard! If he thinks he can arrest me for prostitution after all the time we've spent together-" Chi-Chi began ranting as her face reddened with anger until Lazuli interrupted her.

"He's not after you. Please, think about it." Lazuli scoffed in annoyance at the woman's assumption. "He's after Vegeta." Chi-Chi quickly shut her mouth tight and looked slightly embarrassed as Lazuli noticed the anger fade away immediately and a slight blush remain on her cheeks.

"So…he's missing?" Chi-Chi asked quietly, seemingly worried as this piece of information was just now registering with her.

"Yeah, so is Vegeta. Vegeta knows Kakarot is really Goku now. After he found out, they both went off the radar. Cops don't know where they are, Vegeta's men don't know. Your boss seems to think you might know something about him." Lazuli spun around quickly to face Chi-Chi.

"I-I don't." Chi-Chi choked out sadly. "I really wish I did. I hope he's alright."

"He's more than likely dead, with Vegeta knowing who he is and all. But seeing that Vegeta is missing as well, we're suspecting someone else to be involved with this disappearance. If there's anything at all that you know, Chi-Chi, you better tell me." Lazuli demanded.

Chi-Chi walked Lazuli out of the room, apologizing for not being able to provide any information. Lazuli was going to wait in the living room while Krillin finished speaking with Bulma, hoping to overhear something useful in the meantime. "Please let me know if you find him. I care about Kakarot, you know?" Chi-Chi pleaded, and Lazuli nodded as a little boy crawled out from under the coffee table, startling her. Lazuli gasped in surprise.

"Gohan! What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be upstairs, young man!" Chi-Chi scolded, beginning to shove the boy towards the staircase.

"I'm sorry, Mommy. But I heard what you said to that lady. Is she trying to find Kakarot?" Gohan asked curiously as his mother continued pushing him up the stairs and he tried to stop.

"Wait!" Lazuli called to Chi-Chi, her intuition telling her that the boy might know something. She walked to the landing of the staircase where Chi-Chi and her son were, and knelt down to speak to the boy as Chi-Chi watched concernedly. "Gohan, is it?" Lazuli asked the little boy, who nodded shyly at her. "Well, Gohan, do you have any idea what might have happened to Kakarot? I am trying to find him, and I think he might be in trouble. Anything you know might help." Lazuli said warmly, a tone she rarely used, but children brought it out of her. Gohan looked up at her shyly, his big eyes forcing Lazuli to smile.

"I don't want to get in trouble." Gohan said fearfully as he turned his gaze to his mother, who was scowling at him.

"Gohan, were you downstairs again?" Chi-Chi asked as she placed her hands on her hips, not at all looking like a sexy prostitute since she started mothering her young son.

"Yyyyyyes." Gohan said meekly. Chi-Chi frowned at Lazuli, then turned her gaze to Gohan, shaking it at him in protective disappointment.

"Gohan, how many times do I have to tell you? It's dangerous for you to be down there!" Chi-Chi scolded, though she seemed much less angry than concerned.

"What did you overhear?" Lazuli asked impatiently, knowing the boy must have heard something important to be outing himself to his mother. Gohan overcame his fear and looked boldly up at Lazuli with what she recognized as determination. She smiled in anticipation of what he had to say.

"Raditz and Brolly were talking a lot about seeing a freezer." Gohan suggested. Chi-Chi looked at Lazuli expectantly, not at all concerned. Lazuli knew these two had no idea who Frieza was, or they'd be much more upset right now. She put on a false smile to avoid upsetting the pair.

"Thank you, Gohan. That gives me an idea who they might be visiting. I have an idea where to look now." Lazuli said as she saw Krillin coming from his meeting with Bulma and looking ready to leave. She nodded at her partner, then smiled at Gohan and Chi-Chi one last time. "I have to go now." Lazuli said as she quickly followed Krillin out to their car, anxious to hear what Krillin might have discovered in his meeting with Bulma.

"So, what did the madame have to say?" Lazuli asked Krillin as soon as their car doors were shut.

"Same thing Lapis told us. Vegeta has been missing since last night, as well as Kakarot. I think I had more to tell her than she told me." Krillin said, his tone turning despondent as Lazuli looked at him with a startled gaze.

"What do you mean, Krillin?" Lazuli asked with a raised eyebrow, suspicious of what Krillin might have revealed to Bulma. Krillin frowned and twiddled his thumbs, looking down at his lap reluctantly.

"I told her who Goku was, and she was shocked, but she started to piece things together once she realized that he was a cop. Then she asked me about her son, she insisted I tell her the truth, Lazuli!" Krillin added defensively, as Lazuli gave Krillin a reproving stare.

"Krillin." Lazuli sighed, shaking her head at the man. "You didn't tell her." But she knew he did as soon as she saw the reaction on his face.

"She deserves to know, and with Vegeta missing and possibly dead now, there was no reason to hide it any longer. I said I wanted to be the one to tell her, and I told her." Lazuli sighed, leaning back against the seat and looking up at the ceiling. It seemed they were at a dead end. Even knowing that Frieza may have taken Vegeta or Goku or both, what were they going to do with that? They had no idea how to find Frieza.


	9. Fight For Your Life

Fight For Your Life

Vegeta opened his eyes, regretting the fact that he was now conscious again. Unconsciousness had been his only reprieve since Frieza started having his fun. Now with all his other senses, the pain began to register again, and Vegeta forced himself to overcome the pain, ignore it as the demon himself was sitting right in front of him again. He was probably deliberating over his next method of causing pain.

"I'm losing my patience, Vegeta." Frieza said coolly as he stood with a knife in hand and approached Vegeta. He was still tied to his rival, sitting on the concrete floor, same as he was when this all began. Vegeta shut his eyes tight as Frieza sliced the knife, he was sure there would be pain with the slice. He hesitantly opened his eyes again as Frieza completed the motion and rather than pain, Vegeta felt slightly less restraint. Frieza roughly grabbed Vegeta by the wrists which were still bound together tightly, spinning his whole body around by the wrists, where Vegeta could feel the raw skin tearing some more with the forceful pull. He was now facing Kakarot, or Goku as Frieza had been calling him, who was still unconscious from his most recent bout of shock. Frieza had resorted to electrocution most recently, a method that Vegeta personally could not wait to move on from. Frieza didn't even have a reason to torture Vegeta, but thanks to Kakarot, he was dragged along for this ride. Frieza spun Kakarot's collapsed form around as well, demonstrating his handywork to Vegeta. "Doesn't he look close enough to death to you?" Frieza questioned as he looked beseechingly at Vegeta. "That slimy cop should have shown himself by now." Frieza growled irritably.

"Maybe Kakarot was right." Vegeta muttered, not expecting the backhand that immediately followed across his face. Frieza put his face just in front of Vegeta's after that.

"What was that?" Frieza questioned, daring Vegeta to repeat himself. But Vegeta was already in this situation, with a man who planned to kill him anyways. Might as well piss him off as much as possible while he had the time. "I said Kakarot was right." Vegeta said, glaring defiantly at his torturer.

"You think the man won't come forward?" Frieza questioned incredulously, while Vegeta noticed Goku coming around to consciousness with a pained hiss through his teeth. Frieza looked furious as he stood, approaching Goku and grabbing him by the hair, pulling him to standing, which immediately made Goku alert again as he screamed.

"What if I do this?" Frieza challenged, clasping his other hand around Goku's throat and strangling him. His grip was tight, and Vegeta decided that if Kakarot didn't die from lack of air, he'd certainly be killed by Frieza crushing his neck. Frieza's eyes were scanning his surroundings, expecting one of his new men to come running out to the cop's protection, which gave Vegeta the perfect opportunity. Vegeta turned himself to grab the knife Frieza left laying on the floor, forcing himself to stand as quickly as his body could, working off adrenaline as the pain of his injuries fought against him. He approached Frieza in an awkward position, but still moving fast enough that Frieza did not have time to react as Vegeta pierced the knife into Frieza's thigh. Frieza cried out in surprise and agony, releasing Goku who crumpled to the ground and coughed and sputtered after a long gasp of air. Vegeta immediately received a punch to the jaw, falling down himself and scrunching his face as he landed on his bound arms, thinking that landing just broke some fingers.

Frieza retrieved the knife from his thigh, watching the blood soak his pants from the wound before glaring at Vegeta in disbelief. He tossed the knife aside and pulled Vegeta by his wrists again, then Goku, putting them back to back again. He picked up a rope, considering tying them together again, but that was pretty unnecessary. From the torture those two have endured, they weren't going anywhere, tied up or not.

"What the hell was that? I thought you wanted him dead more than even I do?" Frieza asked Vegeta as he limped back to his chair, breathing raggedly through the pain of his knife injury. Goku continued coughing and gasping as he and Vegeta leaned against each other's backs for support.

"That's right." Vegeta answered Frieza darkly with a scowl. Talking sure as hell did not feel good on his jaw after that latest backhand, but Vegeta refused to show Frieza how much pain he was in. "I do want to kill him, and there is no way I'll sit by and watch you do it, Frieza! I'll be the one to kill Kakarot!" Vegeta insisted. Frieza cackled as he forced himself to stand again, snapping his fingers for his men to come running again.

"I need to take care of this before we can continue." Frieza said, gesturing to his leg before speedily swinging a fist into his man's abdomen. "And you! What the hell is wrong with you? You just stand aside and watch this little punk stab me?" Frieza hissed furiously at his man. Vegeta couldn't blame him. He'd probably kill one of his men for that incompetence, though it was likely that that man was the cop. It would explain his lack of interference. Frieza grabbed the man, who was still doubled over and gasping from the punch by the neck, as he had earlier done with Goku, squeezing until Vegeta and Goku both heard the audible pop as the man's neck snapped in Frieza's grasp, and Frieza threw the lifeless body to the ground. Frieza turned to Goku and Vegeta with a smirk. "That's how it's done. Now, don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." Frieza said singingly as he snapped again, another henchman running right out and assisting Frieza as he walked out of the room.

"I think Frieza just killed your cop." Vegeta informed Goku as soon as he was sure that Frieza was out of the room.

"No. That man is definitely not a cop." Goku answered confidently, his voice a bit raspy from the earlier incident. Vegeta sighed and leaned his head back against the cop, enjoying the little moment of rest they were getting right now. "Thank you." Goku said quietly, startling Vegeta. Vegeta took a moment to let that gratitude register, then scoffed at the notion.

"There's nothing to thank, Kakarot. I meant every word I said. If we get out of this alive, I do plan to kill you still." Vegeta warned, though he was disappointed to notice a lack of conviction in his voice as he was growing weary and exhausted now. To his surprise, Goku chuckled. Before he had the chance to respond, his attention was drawn elsewhere when he saw movement coming from another side of the room. He noticed Goku stopped laughing abruptly, so he must have noticed as well. He watched as one of Frieza's men approached them, very warily and sneakily. This was a face they had not seen before, making Vegeta wonder just how many men Frieza had around this place.

"Hey!" The man said in a forceful whisper as he drew near and withdrew a knife from his pocket, anxiously glancing over his shoulder. "I'm going to get you out of here." Ah hah.

"What did I say, Kakarot? Frieza was right." Vegeta said smugly as the man began cutting the ties that bound their hands. He felt Goku moving fiercely against his back.

"No! No! You need to get out of here!" Goku hissed at the man resembling the D.A., who was so involved in his task that he paid the other cop no attention.

"I already called in our location. Backup should be arriving any time now." The cop assured. "I held out as long as I could, but Frieza took it too far! He almost-" the cop stopped abruptly, his back arching and face forming into an expression as if screaming, though no noise came out.

"killed you?" Vegeta cringed at the sinister voice, looking towards its location to see Frieza sauntering back in the room with new bloodless pants and a smug smile. Frieza headed straight for the hopeless cop as Goku growled angrily at the sadistic man. The rescue cop slumped forward, partially falling on Vegeta where Vegeta could now see a knife protruding from between his shoulder blades.

"It's about time." Freiza exclaimed, almost gleefully as he reached for the man and tore the knife he had thrown into the man's back. The cop was unconscious now, likely dead or bleeding to death. No one was going to save him anytime soon, so he was certainly dead either way. "Looks like you were wrong and I was right, hmm?" Frieza asked Goku, completely self satisfied. Goku moved ferociously as if trying to strike at Frieza, but Frieza easily held him down by pushing his foot against the worn and beaten cop.

"We've had our fun, you two have been the most entertaining guests." Frieza said as he repeated his habitual action of wiping his knife clean of blood and snapping in the air for a henchman, who readily came running and repeated his cleanup duty. "Unless you have some more interesting stories to share about your time together, though, I think it's time we put an end to this." Frieza knelt in front of Vegeta, Vegeta glaring defiantly at the monster who intended to kill him now.

"No. We'll keep our stories to ourselves." Vegeta said, looking straight into Frieza's creepy eyes with a stubborn defiance that he would not let Frieza take from him, no matter how inevitable this seemed now. It was inevitable, Vegeta knew it. He had wanted so badly to punish Frieza and make him suffer. The creep looked Vegeta up and down almost like he was about to devour the man, and Vegeta flinched in disgust.

"I guess we're done then. And I owe you for that little surprise attack, Vegeta. So you go first." Frieza said with a malicious tone, tossing the knife in the air and catching it adeptly as he prepared to kill Vegeta.

"No! Vegeta!" Goku yelled from behind him, still continuing to struggle against his bindings. Vegeta rolled his eyes as he heard the outcry. There was nothing Goku could do, and even if he could, Vegeta didn't want any help from the likes of him.

Vegeta closed his eyes, preparing to feel the blade of Frieza's knife striking him somewhere vital. It all happened at once. He felt Goku's body pull away from his back as if standing, and heard Frieza cry out in shock. There was a sharp clink as something hit the ground, and rather than being penetrated by a blade, Vegeta only received a harsh kick to the leg and the feeling of getting bowled over as he opened his eyes in disbelief.

He was stunned at what he saw, and backed out of the way as he watched. Goku and Frieza were grappling, punching and kicking at each other in a hand to hand fight. The knife had landed on the ground, and was kicked a few feet away at some point in the scuffle. Realizing that Goku had managed to free his hands after the cop worked on their bindings, Vegeta went to work freeing himself as well while the fight continued. Frieza's henchman stood indecisively to the side, as he wanted to shoot the cop attacking Frieza, but the way this fight was going, he was just as likely to shoot Frieza. Goku hit Frieza with a good shot to the jaw, Frieza falling to the ground from the impact. Vegeta finally managed to tear his hands apart and slid himself over to the knife on the ground without hesitation. Frieza was already getting up as Vegeta poised the knife to strike. From his position behind Frieza, Vegeta met Goku's eyes for a moment, a brief silent communication occurring between them with the looks they gave each other. Vegeta could practically hear the words Goku was thinking. Don't kill him, Vegeta! Well, Vegeta was sure that Goku received his message as well, by the way Goku's expression became incredibly irked.

Vegeta lunged at Frieza, who sensed the attack coming and moved aside to dodge the blow just a little too late. Frieza screamed in agony, making Vegeta's blood boil with triumph, as the knife plunged deep into his back. Frieza fell to his knees, as did Vegeta. The natural adrenaline fueling Vegeta's attack seemed to immediately wear off after seeing Frieza fall. Goku was the only one of the three still standing, though his exhaustion was evident as well as he stood bent over with both hands gripping the tops of his thighs for support as he panted heavily. He was already eyeing the henchman who was taking the opportunity of Frieza's fall to aim the gun at the cop now that he had a clear line of fire.

Vegeta couldn't worry about Goku right now. His attention was drawn to Frieza as the man growled furiously and actually started standing again. Apparently he wasn't done yet, and Vegeta forced himself to muster some strength to defend himself again. Before another action could be completed by anyone, all parties were startled by an exploding sound followed by a buzz of activity outside of this warehouse or whatever it was.

"Drop the weapons! Put your hands up!" Announced an anonymous voice through a megaphone. As the henchman threw down the gun and Frieza fell back down on one knee, Vegeta growled at the ironic situation of being saved by the cops.


	10. Winning And Losing

"He was my cousin." Piccolo said sadly as he looked upon the body of the deceased cop, Goku and Vegeta's savior.

"Dammit, Nail." Kaio says sadly to the corpse. "I told him not to do this. Why do none of you listen to me?!" Kaio lamented in frustration as he looked to Yamcha, Krillin and Lazuli who stood before him, then to Goku who lay on a stretcher. Goku, Vegeta and Frieza were being loaded into ambulances, heading for the hospital. Krillin and Lazuli were escorting Frieza, who would remain under police custody while being treated for his injuries. Piccolo and Yamcha were riding with Vegeta, who also would be in cuffs at the hospital. Until his deal was worked out, Vegeta needed to be treated as a prisoner. No chances could be taken that he might escape. His testimony would most likely be necessary to get a conviction in Frieza's trial.

"Sorry, Captain Kaio." Goku apologized hoarsely, his eyes closed from exhaustion as he struggled to talk. Kaio shook his head sadly and patted Goku very gently on the shoulder.

"It's alright, Goku. I'm just glad you're okay." Kaio relented. Krillin laughed, drawing everyone's attention.

"You call that alright, Captain?" Krillin asked. "Look at him. I hardly recognize Goku." Krillin laughed again.

"Thanks, Krillin." Goku responded sarcastically with a small smile. He knew he would be fine after a little healing, though he feared the hospital now more than he had feared Frieza's torture.

"Hey, we'll see you at the hospital, buddy." Krillin said supportively as the paramedics wheeled Goku's stretcher into the ambulance. The doors slammed shut on all three ambulances as the sirens blared and the vehicles headed for the hospital. Kaio watched as they left, still busy with the forensic teams and dozens of criminals under Frieza being arrested and questioned here. Practically the entire precinct had to be here to deal with this massive mess. Kaio wondered where the hell Lapis was. They sure could use his help right now, but the cop never showed when he was called in. Kaio pursed his lip suspiciously as he considered the implications behind Lapis' disappearance.

* * *

"So, Vegeta." Piccolo said loudly enough to be heard over the blaring siren and engine noises from the ambulance traveling speedily down the road. Vegeta lolled his head towards Piccolo, one eye shut from swelling and the other half shut from exhaustion. Piccolo continued, assuming Vegeta was listening well enough. "You can go to prison for a long, long time if you want to be difficult here." Piccolo paused and smirked at Vegeta, this was clearly his preference. "Or you can cooperate and tell us everything you know about Frieza, testify at his trial, and we can give you immunity." Piccolo grumbled the last words resentfully, and Vegeta smirked at this. As much as he'd hate to be cooperative with the cops, in regards to Piccolo, option number two definitely sounded more tempting right now.

"Fine." Vegeta said with a reflexive groan as pain shot through his jaw by moving his mouth. "I'll testify. Now shut up and leave me alone." Vegeta grumbled painfully at Piccolo, enjoying the disappointment on the D.A.'s face before rolling his head in the other direction and finally relaxing. Piccolo continued grimacing as Yamcha watched in silence, his presence being completely ignored by Vegeta. Yamcha met Piccolo's eyes, and Piccolo finally smirked at him. Vegeta may be getting off easy, but burning down Frieza's entire empire, and the bastard himself, was going to be fun.

* * *

Goku opened his eyes, vaguely aware that he was in a bed somewhere. He felt like he had slept for a week, and wondered where he was and just how long he had been out. He glanced around as the blurry room clarified, and frowned deeply when he recognized the starch white facilities and institutional accommodations that could only be a hospital. He sat up in alarm, his anxiety building as he caught sight of the IV lines in his arms and hands. His frantic movement caught the attention of a passerby, who promptly alerted the doctor that the patient was awake. Hearing this, Goku became more hurried to get out of there, until a familiar face entered the room, easing the tension drastically.

"Krillin!" Goku exclaimed with relief when he saw his old partner smiling and walking into the room.

"Hey, Goku! It's great to see you're up, but you better leave that stuff alone, okay?" Krillin answered cautiously as he slowly reached for the IV lines Goku was pulling on and attempted to set Goku's hands down into his lap, away from the hospital equipment. Krillin was well aware of Goku's fears regarding hospitals and doctors. The hospital staff was fortunate that Goku was unconscious when he arrived, or they would have had a hell of a fight on their hands getting him wired up the way he now was. Goku released a whimper of defeat, not at all happy to leave these things plugged into him. "How are you feeling?" Krillin asked as he sat on the bed once he realized that Goku was finished attempting to pull wires from his arms.

"Krillin, where are Vegeta and Frieza?" Goku asked with a dead serious tone that shocked Krillin. That momentary switch that Goku did from whimpering to intimidating was almost scary. Krillin gulped.

"Uh, they're here, too, Goku." Krillin rubbed the back of his head nervously as Goku waited patiently for an explanation of recent events. "Frieza really did a number on you and Vegeta. You've been in and out of it for the past few days. Vegeta isn't much better. But you both are healing, and the doctors say there won't be any permanent damage besides some scarring, miraculously." Krillin huffed as Goku nodded his understanding and Krillin prepared to go on. "Frieza needs to heal more before they'll release him, because he's going straight to prison. Piccolo's already preparing his case. He thinks it's pretty solid." Krillin added triumphantly. Goku nodded with a slight smile.

"Because Vegeta is going to testify?" Goku guessed hopefully. Vegeta was pretty dead-set against him the last time they spoke, but he would have to be an idiot not to take the deal, especially now. Krillin nodded in affirmation. "Good." Goku sighed as he laid back in the bed, feeling exhausted from just sitting up for that short amount of time. He needed to get out of this hospital, it was making him waste away already.

"Yeah, good." Krillin said huffily. Goku raised his eyebrows at Krillin in surprise. It seemed he had some animosity with Vegeta that Goku didn't know about. "I'm going to have a hard time moving on from this one, Goku." Krillin admitted, fumbling his fingers. Goku knew Krillin was thinking about Trunks. Goku bowed his head sadly, then sighed and looked back up at Krillin.

"Krillin, there is nothing you can do about that now. It's part of the job. We have to live with it. Maybe you should talk to Roshi." Goku suggested.

"No, that's not it, Goku." Krillin said, surprising Goku. "It's my partner. I've got to have a talk with her." Krillin said with determination, patting Goku on the hand. "You did great work, Goku. Just like always. Nobody else could have brought in both Frieza and Vegeta in one day." Krillin added with a smirk, truly impressed with his old partner. Goku smirked back as Krillin headed for the door. Krillin almost bumped into someone on the way out.

"Hey, Krillin. I heard Goku was up." The voice said. It was Yamcha, and he was followed in by the nurse. Goku had mixed emotions as his old friend approached him with a smile and a bitter-looking nurse approached his bedside on a mission of some sort. Goku froze as the nurse fumbled with his IV bags, took his temperature and oxygen measurements, and finally removed the IV from his arm and left. Goku breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that was all, and Yamcha smirked at him knowingly. Goku frowned at Yamcha, but then Yamcha returned to a genuine smile.

"Congratulations, Goku." Yamcha said as he plopped on the bed, landing on Goku's foot. He jumped up when he realized this and Goku winced, then sat back down on the mattress. "So, you planning on going back on the job after this or what?" Yamcha asked curiously. Goku frowned. Like he had any time to think ahead yet.

"I don't know." Goku answered with a nonchalant shrug.

"Oh. Because you have some visitors here. I thought they might have some effect on your decision." Yamcha said. Goku frowned in confusion at Yamcha's remark. He did not know who Yamcha could be talking about. Captain Kaio came walking into the room, and Yamcha seemed to drop it as he left the room to give Captain Kaio a chance to talk with Goku.

"Goku, you did it!" Kaio rejoiced as soon as he entered the room, clasping Goku's hands in a frantic handshake. "Frieza will be behind bars for the rest of his life, and Vegeta is testifying for his immunity deal. He won't be getting away with any more criminal acts now. We've got him under our thumb from now on." Kaio said proudly. Goku rolled his eyes internally at that sentiment. He was sure that Vegeta could return to a life of crime after this if he was determined to do so. But he had a feeling that Vegeta was finished with it, for his own reasons.

"Sure." Goku acknowledged, not needing to explain this to Kaio. Then he turned somber. "But it didn't go perfectly. Lives were lost, Captain." Goku admitted. Kaio nodded solemnly, bowing his head silently for a moment.

"Yes. We will mourn Nail and Trunks. They were both heroes, in a sense." Kaio admitted. Goku nodded in agreement. "Did you know that Nail was Piccolo's cousin?" Kaio asked. Goku raised his eyebrows, though he was not totally surprised. The man did strongly resemble Piccolo, and Goku knew that Piccolo's family were deeply involved in law and order occupations.

"Hm." Goku said with a nod as his food was brought it, Goku heavily indulging in the hospital food as he was now feeling as though he were starving from the lack of nourishment here.

"Ah. Speaking of Trunks Briefs." Kaio began, glancing over his shoulder towards the door. "I don't want to hold up your visitors any longer, Goku. They've patiently been waiting to see you." Goku looked up from his food at this, surprised to hear that anyone was waiting for him. "Is it alright if they come in while you're eating?" Kaio asked. Goku nodded adamantly as he returned to consuming his food, quickly finishing it off as his visitors walked through the door.

"Kakarot." Goku looked up, surprised to hear the alias at this point. He froze when he saw the two beautiful women entering through the door, one holding an adorably clingy bundle in her arms. When Goku met their view, the little one took one look at him and bounded from his mother's arms to the hospital bed.

"Kakarot!" He cheered as he opened his arms wide, attempting to hug Goku tightly. Goku smiled and lightly wrapped an arm over Gohan's shoulder. He could not quite make it onto the bed, and with the food tray in front of Goku, the positioning was very akward. Goku remedied this by sliding the tray aside while grabbing one last bite. He had finished the rest of it already anyways.

"Gohan." Goku responded with a laugh after finally swallowing the remainder of his food. "It's good to see you, little guy. But the name is Goku, actually." Goku winked and ruffled Gohan's hair, and Chi-Chi walked up behind Gohan, drawing the boy's attention.

"Goku. I'm glad you are okay." Bulma said, drawing Goku's eyes from Chi-Chi to Bulma. Bulma smiled weakly at Goku, and he felt terrible for her. "I understand that you did what you could for Trunks. Please don't mention it, though. I don't want to talk about it right now." Bulma crossed her arms and frowned, tears welling in her eyes. Goku could tell she was barely keeping it together, though she stubbornly refused to show her feelings here right now. Goku nodded understandingly. Bulma turned her attention to Gohan. "Come on, little guy." Bulma said as she scooped Gohan into her arms and Chi-Chi gave her an appreciative smile. "I saw a vending machine down the hall. Maybe Auntie Bulma can get you something special, kid." Bulma winked at Gohan and the boy's eyes lit with excitement. Bulma fled the room as Chi-Chi glared irritatedly at her suggestion.

"Chi-Chi." Goku said, drawing Chi-Chi's attention away from Bulma's retreating form. "I'm surprised to see you here." Chi-Chi frowned at Goku, sat on the bed and looked hesitant and thoughtful for a moment.

"I am angry with you, Goku." Chi-Chi glowered at Goku as she said his name. "That is your name, right?" She asked accusatorially. Goku winced at her sudden hostility. "You have any other secrets you care to confess with me while I'm here?" She asked. Goku shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry I lied to you, Chi-Chi. I really am. It's just the nature of the job, though." Goku apologized and Chi-Chi refused to look at him. He grabbed her hand, her attention suddenly focused as she met his pleading eyes. "When I went undercover as Kakarot, I never thought I would become so close to you, Chi-Chi. I had to keep lying to you, in order to keep you safe." Goku confessed. Chi-Chi widened her sad eyes upon Goku, understanding finally that she really did mean something to him.

"I know." She said with a small smile. She leaned forward and kissed Goku's lips gently. He smiled as she pulled away. "And thank you for keeping Gohan out of trouble. He really looks up to you." Chi-Chi looked around the room, a bit at a loss. Goku could see she did not want to leave yet, but he knew it was the best thing for her to do.

"Hey. I'm going to be stuck here for a while. They say it'll take me a while longer to heal. But I'm real happy you visited me, Chi-Chi." Goku said wholeheartedly as he laid back in the bed, feigning exhaustion.

"Yeah." Chi-Chi answered as she patted his hand and stood. "I suppose you need your rest. I hope you feel better soon, Goku." Chi-Chi stepped toward the door, hesitating as she rested a hand on the door frame and never broke eye contact with Goku. "I guess I'll see you around sometime." Chi-Chi said, and Goku smiled back at her and nodded. Maybe he would see her around again sometime.


	11. Unresolved Issues

Unresolved Issues

Bulma stood outside the room, hesitating. Visiting Goku was easy. He was a true hero, someone she needed to thank for keeping her safe when she did not even realize how much she was in danger. But she never had any deep emotions towards him, and his lies were easy to forgive. Vegeta was a different story altogether.

Trunks was dead. There was no use denying it, as much as it was difficult to admit. The pain was unbearable, and no mother should have to endure such a loss. Even worse, it was Vegeta's fault. Vegeta, who fathered the boy, who watched him grow, who stubbornly denied any attachment though Bulma could always see it. How could he do it? To prevent his arrest? Well, too late for that. He was chained to a hospital bed right now, surrounded by police. In the end, their son was dead for nothing, and Bulma could not bring herself to forgive this. The decision was made, plans were set in motion already. She took a deep breath and resolutely stepped inside the hospital room, prepared to say what had to be said.

* * *

Krillin left Goku's hospital room with determination, knowing he needed to speak with Lazuli. He just wished he knew where the hell she was. He had been searching for her, texting her, and asking around if anyone had seen her, but after twenty minutes of searching, still no sign of her. He was really disappointed now, because he had been so determined, and now that feeling was wearing off. He was starting to get cold feet. Could he really confront Lazuli like he wanted to? She was so intimidating, and gorgeous, and traitorous! Traitorous. Krillin reminded himself to focus on that trait of hers. It was the one that would keep his mindset right, the one that allowed him to look at her and think of Trunks Briefs and all her lies.

Krillin rounded a corner, deciding to check the cafeteria in case she might be grabbing a bite to eat. When he did, he immediately heard a shallow voice a few feet behind him.

"Krillin." Krillin's skin tingled at the voice, and he slowly turned around, almost afraid to see her there. "We need to talk." She said with a frown, her arms crossed and a dejected look about her that Krillin would not have thought possible for the beautiful, deceptive woman.

* * *

"Vegeta." Bulma said as she sat at the foot of Vegeta's bed. The man was covered in black and blue, one eye swollen shut, and bandaged all over his body. He was sleeping, but Bulma had no patience to wait for him to wake. This was important, and she would only be prepared to have this conversation once. "Vegeta." She said again calmly, attempting a second time to rouse him.

Vegeta's eyes slowly opened and he appeared oblivious to his surroundings as he squinted his eyes and attempted to look around the room. He groaned in pain from his slight movements, and Bulma felt bad for him. She would not want to know what he had just been through. He talked to her in the past about Frieza, and she knew what a sadistic maniac the man was. Vegeta finally met Bulma's eyes, and his eyes lit in recognition, though his mouth remained in a frown. Bulma smiled at him with relief. She could not help it, seeing him safe and alive was the happiest sight she could see now. First she lost Trunks and never had the chance to see him again, now the same thing had almost happened with Vegeta. But he was here, and he was safe.

"Vegeta, I'm happy you're alright." Bulma said with a smile, her eyes shimmering with the tears of many emotions building in them. "You had me scared." She added, accusingly. Vegeta smirked at her.

"You, scared? I doubt it. Bulma Briefs is not easily frightened. Besides, you know me." Vegeta propped himself up on his elbows, moaning in pain as he used muscles that had been healing and stiffening in the bed. He smirked again after getting comfortable. "I always come out on top." Bulma rolled her eyes at Vegeta's egotistical behavior. Even cuffed and banged up in a hospital bed, he acted as if he were better than everyone else.

"So, you're testifying against Frieza?" Bulma asked, setting her purse beside her on the bed and beginning to rifle through it. Vegeta looked at her suspiciously. Something was up. She should be screaming and threatening to kill him right now. She had to know about Trunks. There was no way the cops would neglect to inform her.

"Bulma, Trunks is dead." Vegeta deadpanned, cutting to the chase. He didn't want to carry on this conversation a second longer if she didn't already know. Bulma met his eyes with a stony visage.

"Yes. I know." She said coldly as she retrieved some papers from her purse and set them on the bedside table. Vegeta stared at Bulma, his mouth gaping for a moment. Then he sneered angrily, not quite knowing why. But he knew somehow, that whatever she was up to was going to make him angry. "Those are the documents I will need you to give to Maron. She already knows what to do. I've talked to her about this, and she agreed."

"Agreed to what?!" Vegeta growled, pulling harshly on his handcuff as he attempted to grab Bulma. The momentum flung him backwards in the bed, and Bulma stood up hastily.

"Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, Vegeta?" Bulma asked snidely. "Would you really attempt to hurt me here? In the hospital? Surrounded by cops?" Bulma spat furiously.

"Why not? I already have an immunity deal. What's one more dead whore?" Vegeta growled. Bulma gasped, a sob rising in her chest at Vegeta's painful words. She knew he didn't mean it, but even to acerbically make a remark like that was crossing the line. Bulma forced herself to be stern. She would not let Vegeta get to her.

"For your information, _Prince_, I am no longer a whore." Bulma said proudly as she threw a set of keys on top of the documents. Vegeta glanced cautiously towards the documents and keys, wondering just what Bulma was up to. He recognized those keys. They were the keys for the Saiyajin Mansion.

"Bulma, where do you think you are going?!" Vegeta asked incredulously, realizing the implications of Bulma's words and actions.

Bulma stepped away from Vegeta, and could no longer fight the tears that had been threatening to emerge since she stepped in this room. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, attempting to hide them and appear strong in front of Vegeta. The gesture was pointless, of course, because Vegeta could see her tears, he could feel her pain, and he frowned solemnly back at her, his mood instantly softening.

"I'm sorry." Vegeta admitted quietly, quickly turning his face away from hers as he could not stand to watch her tears. Bulma cried harder at the sound of those loaded words. Vegeta had done so much wrong, just what was he really apologizing for? Vegeta looked at Bulma again and noticed her questing expression, her need to hear more. "For our son." Vegeta set his face into a hardset determination, and Bulma breathed deeply in relief at finally hearing those words from Vegeta. She needed his apology more than she realized, and it did make her feel lightened. But it was not enough, it would never be enough to fix this.

"I'm glad you're sorry. You should be. You are a monster, Vegeta." Vegeta frowned as he laid back in bed. He accepted that. How could he claim not to be a monster? He never understood why anyone would care for him like Bulma did. "I fell in love with a monster." Bulma said quietly, sadly, and Vegeta turned to look at her in surprise.

"Love?" Vegeta asked doubtfully. It certainly had felt like love all this time, but after everything that had happened, how could she? Bulma appeared resolute all of a sudden, and Vegeta watched her carefully, curious as to what she was thinking.

"Yes, I loved you. I loved Trunks. And you took him from me, Vegeta. My only son." Bulma's breath was ragged as she attempted to stop crying, but the echoes of her sobs remained in her voice as she spoke. "We could have been happy together, as a family. But you never accepted that. You always put yourself and your business first." Vegeta stared solemnly at Bulma, not willing to say anything as he listened. Bulma stared back, her sobbing finally letting up as she finished releasing her emotions. She was done with that. Now it was only business.

"I'm leaving. That's all you need to know. I accept your apology, but I still cannot forgive you, Vegeta. I will never forgive what you did to Trunks." Bulma said with determination, a proud and stubborn expression on her face as she gathered her belongings from the hospital room. "Maron can run the mansion from now on." Bulma glanced at Vegeta, who only stared back at her sadly. He had no words in his defense, what could he possibly say to her now?

"Goodbye, Bulma." Vegeta finally said as Bulma continued to linger near the door, not budging to leave. A nurse walked into the room, starting awkwardly as she realized she intruded on something as she sensed the intensity in the room.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor." She apologized to Vegeta, glancing at Bulma. Bulma looked at the nurse.

"No, go ahead. I was just leaving." Bulma said. Without another glance at Vegeta, Bulma turned and fled the room, heading off to start fresh somewhere new.

* * *

"Lazuli…" Krillin trailed off, not quite sure how to proceed from here. How ironic. He spent all this time hunting her down, and now that she was here, wanting to talk, he just wanted to tell her to go away! He couldn't stand to look at her. Just the sight of her made him furious. Lazuli, apparently, could see this, because she approached him with the stealth of a hunter approaching a wild animal.

"Krillin, please." Lazuli pleaded lowly. "Please just hear me out." Krillin shook his head and took a step back. He couldn't say anything to her. He just couldn't form the words. "I'm sorry, Krillin! Okay? I'm sorry! I fucked up! What do you want me to do?" Lazuli stopped advancing on Krillin, but scrunched her face into a bitter expression and tightened her crossed arms, feeling exasperated with this conversation. She had never felt the need to apologize to someone like this. Why was it so important to make this guy feel good about her?

"Stop fucking up." Krillin finally answered simply, surprising himself as the words seemed to fly out of his mouth against his knowledge. Lazuli looked on with shock as Krillin gaped at his own boldness.

"Okay. You've got me. I'm done. I'm out. I'll even stop being a detective." Lazuli offered with her hands up in a defensive posture. Not that she wanted to, though. She'd have to find some pretty damn interesting occupation to top detective work. "Listen, Krillin." Lazuli added as Krillin seemed unconvinced by the lack of sincerity in Lazuli's promises. "I am deeply sorry for my actions. I regret what I did. I never meant to hurt you, Krillin." Lazuli said, this time with heartfelt deepness that Krillin could not ignore. Krillin's resolve softened and he looked at Lazuli, studying her suspiciously.

"Listen, Lapis ran off somewhere. Captain Kaio's been looking all over for him. He sent some units to check his house, and his shit's all packed, the place is empty. He texted me that he had to leave, and didn't know if he'd be back." Lazuli informed Krillin of this, partly because she was worried for Krillin's safety from her brother, and partly because she was concerned what Krillin would do in regards to her. Krillin looked back at Lazuli, unamused as he read into her motive.

"So now you're worried that I'm going to tell Captain Kaio that you and your brother were the moles, is that it? Is that the only reason you're apologizing to me right now, Lazuli? You're just trying to get on my good side so I'll keep your secret for you!" Krillin yelled angrily.

"Hey! Keep it down." Lazuli said, nervously glancing around for any signs of people reacting to Krillin's outburst. "No, dumbass. I'm trying to tell you that I care about you." Lazuli added with a smirk after Krillin remained silent. Krillin stared at Lazuli, dumbfounded.

"You care about me?" He asked doubtfully.

"Yes. I do." Lazuli said with a cool certainty that Krillin found very attractive. He quickly shook off his feelings of attraction, reminding himself of Lazuli's traitorous nature.

"Well, listen Lazuli." Krillin took a deep breath and rubbed his head, ready to kick himself for offering to do something so stupid. But he did have feelings for the woman, and couldn't bring himself to harm her. "Your secret is safe with me, if you really are done with it. I'll tell Kaio that your brother was the mole, not you." Krillin admitted, looking down at the ground shamefully. No good cop should be doing something like this. Yet somehow, he felt it was the right thing to do.

"Thanks, Krillin." Lazuli said with a bright smile, truly pleased with Krillin. She knew that was not at all an easy decision for him, and was actually shocked that he did it.

"But still. You need to get out of here. Move on like your brother did or something." Krillin said with determination. "I don't want to see you anymore, Lazuli. It would be too hard." Krillin added sadly. Lazuli frowned and stepped away. She hesitated as she watched Krillin staring sadly into space, refusing to look at her.

"Krillin, I really do have feelings for you. And I'm sorry things worked out this way. I understand, though. If you ever decide you want to give me a chance, you know my number." Lazuli said with an acceptance and hopefulness that she never expected to feel all at once. Lazuli turned and walked away. Krillin looked towards her as he thought over her words. He watched her retreating back as it became more and more distant, until he could no longer see her. Lazuli. Krillin crossed his arms and tapped his finger on his bicep as he silently mulled over the beautiful enigma of a woman. They could have been good together.


	12. Trial By Fire

"What else do you have on Frieza?" Piccolo questioned pushily, giving Vegeta no chance to breathe as the nurse was prodding something into his veins. Vegeta huffed, refusing to answer as he clenched his teeth in pain from the prod of the needle, which missed the vein as the nurse made a second attempt. Failing again.

"Will you watch what the fuck you're doing!" Vegeta yelled furiously at the nurse, pulling his arm away from her. She balked, a deeply offended expression on her face as she stood up straight.

"Sir, I need to give you this IV." She said sternly, reaching for his arm again. Vegeta flinched away from her, glaring as he shook his head warningly at the nurse.

"No. Get someone else to do it." Vegeta insisted. The nurse huffed with frustration.

"If you don't get this now, sir, you could experience a lot of pain." She explained exasperatedly.

"I don't care. Get out of my room. If you come at me with that thing again I'll stick it in your eye!" Vegeta spat furiously as Piccolo shook his head and rolled his eyes. The nurse scurried away, worried that Vegeta might be serious about that threat. He certainly sounded serious, despite the D.A.'s lack of concern.

"Can we get on with the questions already?" Piccolo asked, rubbing his aching head as he glanced over his notes. He had been working tirelessly on this case, and to his misfortune, it required Vegeta's cooperation. Vegeta glanced at Piccolo's notes, then turned his head away from Piccolo. Piccolo continued reading, nodding his head thoughtfully as he recounted the details of the events surrounding Frieza's capture.

"You know," Piccolo began, looking up from his notes and smirking at Vegeta, "it looks like you have Goku to thank for still being alive today." Piccolo said proudly, quite impressed with the job his friend did.

"Hn. A lot to be thankful for." Vegeta grumbled spitefully. After his encounter with Bulma, Vegeta was in no hurry to get back to the real world.

"Yeah. You're right. Your life's not worth much." Piccolo grumbled vindictively. Vegeta glared at Piccolo.

"Who asked you?" Vegeta huffed, furious with the stupid D.A. "Why don't you get out of here and build your own case? Or do you really need my help that badly?" Vegeta taunted with a smirk. Piccolo growled with frustration. Vegeta's testimony was vital to the case, and he knew it.

"I'll come back later. Seems that pain is setting in and making you grouchy." Piccolo suggested, as Vegeta did notice his discomfort growing. It seemed that nurse actually knew what she was talking about. Vegeta frowned deeply as he watched the D.A. leave, neither one of them saying another word to each other.

* * *

Vegeta opened his eyes to the sight of a blurry figure sitting in the chair beside his bed, watching him. He quickly rubbed his eyes and sat up, not at all liking the vulnerable feeling of being watched while unconscious.

"Hey." The man said as Vegeta's vision cleared, revealing the face of a traitor. His visitor smiled, but his expression was vacant. He seemed hesitant to talk, though it was obvious he came here for some reason.

"What do you want, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, feeling awkward to be alone with him after everything that had happened. The last time they were alone together, Vegeta simply wanted to kill him. He still wanted to kill him. But part of him knew that he couldn't do that now.

"I'm being discharged today." Goku explained, glancing at Vegeta. He held his hands in his lap, pursing his lips thoughtfully as he debated what else to say. He really didn't know what to say. He just couldn't leave the hospital without saying goodbye to Vegeta. The guy did save his life.

"Good for you." Vegeta grumbled irreverently. Goku looked at Vegeta again, a deep look in his eyes that Vegeta could not quite read. Vegeta studied the face carefully, narrowing his eyes in concentration as they sat there in silence. He still couldn't place it. It seemed Goku was almost…hopeful. But that wasn't right.

"Uh…" Goku said, breaking the silence as he rubbed his head anxiously, "I'm just glad we made it out alive." Goku said with a smile, a confident one that immediately removed any feelings of awkwardness that had been previously lurking.

"Yeah." Vegeta shrugged indifferently.

"I just wanted to say goodbye before I leave." Goku explained, patting Vegeta on the shoulder as he stood.

"I'll see you in court for Frieza's trial, won't I?" Vegeta asked rhetorically, knowing very well he wasn't free of the lying bastard yet.

"Yeah." Goku answered with a smile, having completely forgotten about that.

"So it's not goodbye yet." Vegeta grumbled, complaining about the fated reunion more than rejoicing in it. Goku smirked and began walking away, turning back to face Vegeta after only a few steps.

"You know, you aren't a bad guy, Vegeta. You could always use this as an opportunity to change things. This immunity deal could be your second chance." Goku suggested, watching Vegeta carefully for his reaction.

Vegeta stared long and hard at Goku, then snorted in disbelief. He smirked and met Goku's eyes with a look that said he had no intention of changing. "Fuck you, Kakarot." Vegeta smiled at Goku and let out a small laugh, his eyes softening as he shook his head.

Goku smiled and gave an understanding nod, walking away content with that meeting. Vegeta was a man of few words. But he would consider what Goku said, whether he'd admit it or not. Frieza's trial would be in one year, awaiting the backup of trials already on the roster and giving Piccolo time to gather witnesses and corroborate statements. It was a lot of time, and things could change drastically between now and then. Goku was certain the Vegeta he'd see in that courtroom would be a changed man from the one broken on the hospital bed right now. He had no doubts.

* * *

The jury listened intently as the witness recounted his story. The judge clasped his hands together and frowned down at the ex-criminal, deciphering every subtlety in movement and inflection of voice for signs of deception. Not that it would matter if he caught it. The judge really wasn't supposed to take note of such things. But when an ex-crime boss took the stand, it was difficult to just eat up every word he threw at you.

"…and how did you know it was Frieza that abducted you and Detective Goku Son?" The tall defense attorney questioned, flashing his large white teeth at the jury as he sauntered lazily around the witness stand.

"Because after we came to, Frieza came out and said, here I am!" The witness retorted acerbically at the idiotic question.

"I don't believe that is exactly how it happened, your honor." The defense attorney said with a frown, shaking his head sadly at the witness. He was taking that answer seriously. The judge frowned down into the witness box.

"Mr. Saiyajin. Please answer the questions seriously and to the best of your knowledge. We have no room for sarcasm in the courtroom." The judge scolded before turning his attention back to the defense attorney. "And Mr. Ginyu, please keep your questions focused and to the point." The judge reprimanded, tapping his fingers impatiently on his podium while his chin rested on his other hand. "We don't need to be here all day with this witness, do we?" The judge asked with boredom. Mr. Ginyu frowned and waved his hands apologetically.

"No. Please forgive me, Judge Yama. I'll get right to the point." Ginyu cleared his throat and returned his attention to Vegeta, who was staring down the attorney, a man Vegeta had hated long before this trial began. Meanwhile, Piccolo sat at his desk, listening intently to the court proceedings as he observed the jury for any signs of preference. Any subtle body language could indicate which way this trial was leaning, and there was no way he was letting this trial end with a not guilty verdict.

Other people in attendance at this trial included Captain Kaio, the officers involved in this case (with the exception of Lapis and Lazuli, who had mysteriously disappeared shortly after Frieza's arrest), friends and employees of Vegeta's, and some family members of Frieza's victims. Goku sat in the second row behind Piccolo, his eyes scanning the room as he placed all the faces in attendance. As Vegeta began explaining the events following their abduction, Goku caught sight of a suspicious face among the crowd.

The man wore a trenchcoat and his eyes darted anxiously around the room. Goku studied the man carefully who shifted in his seat, occasionally reaching his hand into his trenchcoat as if he were checking for something. When Goku glanced at Frieza in chains at the defense desk; that was when he decided to move. Frieza looked just as anxious and shifty as the trenchcoat guy, something one would never see from Frieza while just sitting in court. Something was up. Goku hurried across the courtroom stealthily, just feet away from the man with the trenchcoat when he caught sight of Frieza meeting the man's eyes with a determined nod, a signal. Goku jumped for the man before he could move, only hoping he did not have a bomb or something more volatile. The man yelled out, drawing attention from the entire courtroom as the sound of a gunshot rang out.


	13. Done Waiting

Done Waiting

Hundreds of people stood anxiously outside the courthouse, waiting for people to emerge from that courtroom. Reporters flocked the scene, pushing their way to the front in hopes of getting the story first. News trucks blocked the streets and cameras were already on the crowd. The building was evacuated for the emergency, with the exception of the people in the courtroom harboring a gunman.  
Lazuli stood there, kicking herself for not being in that courtroom.

She could have been. She'd recently taken a job in a different city, working homicide. Due to Krillin's kindness of turning a blind eye, her reputation as a detective was unscathed, and she easily landed the job. She was trying to start anew. But with Frieza's trial all over the news, she could not resist the pull to come here. And now she was fretting. Because if anything happened to Krillin in that courtroom, she was going to make someone pay.

* * *

She rose up on her toes, trying desperately to see past the crowd as the doors finally opened and people emerged from the courthouse. She clasped the little hand she held tightly, not daring to risk the loss of contact for even a moment as she continued pushing forward. He should not be that hard to recognize, even in a crowd this massive. With his height and unique splay of black, spiky hair, she expected to find him right away. Her heart pounded nervously as she waited. He just had to be alright.

* * *

She stood back, waiting until the crowds would subside. She just stood outside her car, leaning against it with her arms crossed, deep in thought. Maybe she shouldn't be here. Maybe he had moved on. It didn't matter, she reminded herself. She had other reasons to be here, and she was sure he would be here long after the hype died down. It was not like him to come rushing out with the others. He'd be the one lingering in the courtroom until everyone had gone. That's when she'd find him, and see how things pan out from there.

* * *

Finally! There he was, and he seemed fine! She gasped joyfully as she scooped her little companion into her arms and ran towards him. A surge of adrenaline seemed to course through her veins as she easily shoved people aside, knocking some down in her desperate attempt to get to him as quickly as possible. He was surrounded by police and reporters, hounding him with questions and shoving microphones in his face. When he glanced in her direction, his countenance immediately changed. He smiled as she continued running and pushing, not even letting the heavy load in her arms falter her progress in the slightest. He pushed aside some reporters, parting the way to her as he approached with fast footsteps, finally meeting as he engulfed his arms around them both. Lips clashed in a fierce and fiery kiss, a reunion they both momentarily had feared would never happen only moments ago.

They pulled apart, sighing. They were ignorant of the reporters who followed and now surrounded the both of them, snapping pictures frantically at the romantic display. He smiled, rubbing the little one's head. The smiling child immediately reached for him, practically jumping into the powerful arms that were ready to accept him.

"Hey, big guy!" He chuckled as the boy hugged him tightly.

"Are you okay, Daddy?" The boy asked with big, watery eyes. He looked at the woman with a heartfelt expression upon hearing the name. She felt it as well as she smiled back.

"I'm great! See?" He asked as he lightly tossed the child in the air and caught him, eliciting a riotous laugh from the child. He hugged the child again, then set him down as his eyes met the concerned expression of the woman. He needed to explain everything to her. He looked over his shoulder, relieved to spot a friend nearby.

"Hey, Gohan. Can you go over there with Krillin for a while? Your mommy and I need to talk." Gohan nodded and ran to Krillin, who turned in surprise at the forceful bump of the boy clinging onto his leg. Krillin's gaze met Goku, and he gave an understanding nod and a thumbs up, indicating he had the child taken care of. Goku smiled thankfully, then turned his attention back to Chi-Chi.

* * *

He isolated himself. It was a common practice for him, especially following times when he narrowly escaped with his life, such as now. He stared down at the splintered wood of the witness stand, only inches from where he sat. If it hadn't been for Kakarot...

He frowned deeply in disapproval of the thought. He would not be thankful for that liar's constant meddling, even if it was the reason he still breathed. Still...what now? The past year went by like a blur, every thought and action seemingly revolving around this day. Now that it was done, he was a free man. But what did that mean? How could he just return to how things were before? Raditz, Broly and Nappa had all moved on. Understandably, since he was not going to pay them to sit on their asses for a year. Even with the granted immunity, the cops kept a close eye on him. Even Kakarot stopped by often to 'visit'.

More lies. He only came for the same reasons as all the other cops. Maron, surprisingly, had a handle on managing the mansion, in spite of her endless stupidity. And Bulma...Bulma was long gone. What did that leave for him? He had to start over now. So now, as he sat in this empty courtroom, he wavered between feeling thankful for his life and feeling hatred towards living. What a fucking conundrum. If anything, he was in no hurry to go anywhere.

* * *

He finished issuing his statements to the reporters, a smug smile on his face as he finally beat the bastard who thought he'd never be caught. He had the last laugh, and it felt pretty damn good to announce to the reporters another trial won by his masterful law skills. He strongly resented the loss of his cousin in this situation, but took some solace in knowing his murderer was sentenced to death for his crimes. He would be there when the bastard fried, that was for certain. He stepped away from the reporters as a familiar face approached, and his smile became haughty again.

"Mr. Mayor." He greeted briefly as the mayor cast a reproachful look with his deeply wrinkled visage towards the D.A. The heavy man moved incredibly slowly as he stepped to meet the D.A., who frowned at the mayor's attitude. Can the man not appreciate a victory?

"Piccolo. Good job today." He said in his gravelly voice, a deep frown and somber tone contradicting the compliment.

"What are you so negative about? I thought you wanted Frieza behind bars?" Piccolo complained bitterly. The mayor could be a real kill buzz sometimes.

"I did. And I am congratulating you here, Piccolo." He paused as Piccolo eyed him dubiously. "I take no joy in death sentences, Piccolo. Even for a man like Frieza, death is too severe in my opinion." Piccolo scoffed.

"You're far too soft, Guru. If you'd seen for yourself even half of what Frieza has done, you'd think the death sentence was too kind for him."

"Perhaps. Still, this I do not enjoy." Guru said with a shake of his head. "I do not revel in it like you do, Piccolo."

"Well, what can I say?" Piccolo remarked with a smirk. "I find this a completely satisfactory conclusion, and I have no regrets. Just another job well done." Piccolo crossed his arms as Guru mildly smiled back and nodded his understanding.

"You're great at what you do, Piccolo. I'm sure you're working on putting away the next bad guy already." Guru smiled at Piccolo, a genuine smile, and Piccolo gave one sharp nod in appreciation. Guru knew him too well. Now he was heading home. As Guru said, there was always more work to do, and he loved his work.

* * *

"Frieza arranged for an assassin to be in the courtroom. He intended to take Vegeta out before he could finish his testimony." Goku explained to Chi-Chi's mien of rapt attention. "Frieza probably wanted Vegeta's death even more than he wanted to stop the testimony." He chuckled a little at the memory, causing her to frown deeply with disbelief. "You should have seen the look on Frieza's face when the dust settled and Vegeta was unscathed. Then he looked at me, restraining his assassin, and man...if looks could kill." He chuckled again, this time not alone. She could not believe him. He threw himself into danger all the time, but seemed to always come out alright. She had to let that reassure her, because she needed to get used to this.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Goku. But stop scaring me like that!" She yelled, slapping his arm hard. He winced and frowned at her, until she smiled again. That was all the scolding required for that incident. Now she just wanted to go home, since this whole Frieza nightmare was finally over. He seemed to read her mind as he turned towards Krillin and Gohan. She grabbed his arm, needing to tell him something before Gohan joined them again. He turned in surprise, his wondering eyes shining into hers. She smiled and took him by the hands.

"Before we go home, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, Goku." Goku looked seriously at Chi-Chi, his full attention on her as he silently waited for her to speak. "Goku, I'm pregnant. You're going to be a father." She said with teary eyes as his mouth dropped in shock before quickly turning up in a smile. He suddenly hugged her tight, so tightly that she thought he might break a rib. She tapped desperately on his arm as she failed vocally to plea for her freedom. He quickly released her with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, Chi-Chi. I'm just so excited!" He said as he restrained himself from hugging her again. "You haven't told Gohan yet?"

"Of course not! I had to tell you first. Now we can tell him together." They smiled at each other, and Goku thought fondly about the five year old boy he recently began calling son.

"You think Gohan might resent the baby? I'm not sure I really know how to be a father." Goku said worriedly as he glanced at Gohan, who was playing a hand clapping game with Krillin. Chi-Chi laughed at him, the beautiful sound easing his worry.

"Goku, you already are a father to Gohan. Ever since the adoption, he's grown so attached to you. He loves you. He'll love the baby, too." Chi-Chi smiled warmly, looking after Gohan as the little boy met her eyes. His eyes seemed to ask for permission to come back to them, and she nodded her approval. He waved to Krillin and ran into Chi-Chi's arms as Krillin waved to the family. Chi-Chi and Goku each grabbed one of Gohan's hands, the three of them walking together towards the parking lot.

"Gohan, we have some good news..." Goku said as they walked. In the distance, the little boy jumped and yelled excitedly while the recently-married couple laughed together.

* * *

He watched as his partner left, practically a family man overnight. He couldn't help feeling envious. He was tired of being alone. The cop stepped down the courthouse steps, glancing occasionally at the thinned crowd still surrounding the courtroom. He had given his statements to reporters, Goku was headed home already, and Piccolo seemed to be gone, too. Might as well go home now. He caught sight of a face amongst the crowd and stopped to take a second look. Could it be her? The blond spun around, a smiling face similar to, but not the same as the one he was hoping to see. But why was he hoping? He needed to get over that woman already. He couldn't possibly be hung up on a woman that could betray him like she had. She was bad for him.

He reached the landing of the courthouse steps, turning in the direction of the parking lot. He walked determinedly, not wanting to waste any more time here. He passed a few figures, the spread out remnants surrounding the crowded courthouse as the distance increased. At first it did not surprise him when he spotted another blond woman standing in his path, just like all the other people he had passed. But as he approached, her appearance became more apparent, and he felt his heart racing. Her unsmiling face met his eyes, a hopefulness in her expression. And then he knew. Lazuli really was here.

"Lazuli. What are you doing here?" He greeted guardedly once he was within speaking distance.

"Nice to see you again, too, Krillin." She grumbled while narrowing her eyes. Krillin cringed. He shouldn't have spoken like that. It wasn't like him to be so rude.

"I'm sorry, Lazuli. It's just…I just didn't expect to see you again." Krillin said apologetically as he stopped walking and stood awkwardly in front of the poised and somewhat grim woman.

"I know." Lazuli agreed, crossing her arms uncomfortably as her face twitched nervously. Krillin smiled. The woman seemed to have nerves of steel all the time, but she'd been reacting differently around him ever since…well, ever since all the things happened that made him want to stop talking to her.

"I heard from some informants about your brother recently." Krillin informed, while he was on the thoughts of her betrayal, he might as well address that cynical relative of hers. "Do you know what he's been up to?"

"Hm." Lazuli smirked and tossed her head back momentarily at the mention. "He's running with Vegeta's old crew these days. They're just a bunch of punks now. My brother is so immature." Lazuli complained derisively. Krillin chuckled. Lazuli glanced at him curiously. "Are you planning to go after him?" Her tone was almost protective, and Krillin frowned at this.

"What if I am? He is a criminal, Lazuli. I'm a cop. I can't just let him run around doing whatever he wants because he's your-" Krillin stopped himself, his face reddening in embarrassment. "Anyways, I was worried if he was caught, he might tell someone what he knows about you. You know, to work out a deal for himself or something." Krillin finished hurriedly, hoping Lazuli did not pick up on his earlier slip. Lazuli smirked at him, a bad sign for his hopes of her overlooking that slip.

"So you could arrest him, but you won't because you don't want anything happening to me?" Lazuli asked, her tone a mixture of arrogance and obsequiousness.

"Something like that." Krillin admitted reluctantly under his breath as he looked away from her. Lazuli changed her demeanor, her superior attitude exaggerated as she addressed Krillin again.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about with that, Krillin. My brother would never betray me. Arrest him if you will. I understand the nature of the job. I still work as a detective, you know." She scowled at Krillin as she spoke, and he suddenly felt intimidated as he struggled to voice a response.

"Uh, you…you're still a detective?" Krillin asked doubtfully. He was sure after they parted ways that she would turn to a life of crime. It seemed she was more than capable. Her choosing to go back to work as a cop seemed like she was taking a shot at redemption.

"Yeah, homicide in Oklahoma." Lazuli shrugged indifferently as Krillin gazed at her dubiously. "It's not my kind of place, but I had to start over somewhere." She glanced at Krillin warily, taking a deep breath before finally saying what she had come to say. "I was wrong back then, Krillin. We both were, Lapis and me. You cannot know how sorry I am." Krillin frowned deeply, not attempting to hear her out. Lazuli scowled angrily. "I've been working my ass off busting criminals in homicide, Krillin. I do everything in my power now to prevent senseless murders, and I still feel it will never make up for everything I've done." Krillin remained frowning, though his visage softened as he absorbed everything she said. Lazuli sighed again, whipping her head to the side for a moment in both a haughty gesture and to move some hair that blew into her face. "Anyways, I just knew about this trial today, and had to come see you again, Krillin. I can see you want nothing to do with me still. I'll be on my way."

Lazuli turned to leave, not wasting a second as she gracefully strode through the parking lot at a surprising speed. Krillin stood with his mouth gaping, stunned as she left him not even a second to respond. She needed to give him a moment to process all of this. Only ten minutes ago, he was certain he would never see her again. Suddenly, he was recounting a year of unexpected occurrences with her. And, in her own way, she was admitting having feelings for him. She did betray him, but if everything she just said was true, she really seemed to be changed. Krillin really should just let her go, let this be over. She was leaving, not even glancing back as she was quite a distance away now. It would be so easy to let her go.

"Lazuli!" Krillin frowned deeply at himself, shocked as the name flew from his own mouth. What was he thinking?! Did he really just call her back? She turned to face him, surprise plastered all over her face. Krillin smiled sheepishly in return as she slowly approached him with a suspicious frown. Now what? Lazuli's expression changed as she closed in on him, her frown turning up into a smile. It was such a beautiful smile. Krillin could not help smiling back. This was why he called her back.

"What, Krillin?" Lazuli asked hopefully, looking almost shy as she gazed into his eyes with her beautiful ice-blue ones.

"Would you like to grab a cup of coffee?" Krillin asked, smiling broadly and confidently at Lazuli's beautiful smile. Her smile widened as she huffed happily.

"Okay." She answered with a shrug of feigned indifference, turning to head the rest of the way through the parking lot. "My car or yours?"

"Definitely mine. You know you can't trust women drivers." Krillin joked with a chuckle, receiving the immediate slap across the back of the head that he did not expect to hurt so much. "Ow!" Lazuli laughed proudly.

"Don't ever question my driving, Krillin." She warned ominously. Krillin nodded obediently and took Lazuli's hand, which she grasped strongly in return. Krillin smiled all the way to the car. Lazuli was back, and he was not going to let her get away again.

* * *

He decided it was finally time to go. The noise outside had quieted for a while, the place was empty. He crossed his arms and slowly strode outside, musing to himself as he took his time approaching his car. He did not look up to see any of the faces of the few people that lingered around the courthouse, including the cops and vehicles prepared to take prisoners away. He reached the landing of the courthouse steps and turned to face the parking lot.

"Vegeta!" He stopped, frozen on the spot. He did not falter or smile at the voice behind him. It was too familiar, yet distant and cold at the same time. It could not be her. Why would she be here?

"Vegeta, I know you heard me." She said again, insistently. He did not need to see her. He could just imagine the look on her face right now. That beautiful, perfect skin, those stunning blue eyes narrowed at his back. Those soft, shining lips, probably adorned with red lipstick, turned down in a deep frown as she hatefully waited for him to turn and face her. Why should he engage with someone with that attitude? He should probably keep walking. Nothing good could come of this. He took only one step before she sounded off again. "Get your ass over here, Vegeta! I need to talk to you, dammit!" He spun around, sneering furiously. No one spoke to him like that! Meeting her eyes, he immediately regretted his reaction. She was smiling with an immensely smug expression on her face, her arms crossed as she leaned against a car parked on the curb.

"So nice to see you again, Vegeta." She jeered as she pushed off the car, standing upright to meet him while he reluctantly walked towards her.

"Bulma. Why are you here?" Vegeta growled with annoyance. Bulma's expression softened, to his surprise, though she remained frowning as she closely studied him. "What?" He asked gruffly.

"I heard about the trial on the news. I came here to see you. When I heard about the shooting in the courtroom, I was…" Bulma trailed off, her lip trembling a bit before she glanced back at her car. Vegeta frowned at Bulma's sudden emotion. He couldn't help feeling bad for her when she looked like that.

"Everything is fine." Vegeta explained, saving her from saying anything else that looked emotional or weak. But it was obvious that she worried for him, and he could not help feeling the pull of old emotions at her caring response. Bulma nodded thankfully. She was not one to show weakness, either, and Vegeta knew she appreciated the save.

"I still hate you, you know." Bulma added, scowling at Vegeta. Vegeta smiled at her petulance. Of course, she couldn't let things lie when she was so vulnerable. That just wasn't Bulma. Vegeta nodded in response. "So, I kept in touch with Goku." Bulma explained, causing Vegeta to startle and look up at her in disbelief. This woman, _his _woman, who abandoned him, had been talking all this time to that damn cop that had been pestering him?

"What?! Why would you talk to him?" Vegeta asked angrily.

"Calm down, Vegeta! He's a nice guy. I know he talks to you all the time. The only reason I mentioned it is…well…he told me-" Bulma glanced back at her car, just a moment before Vegeta cut her off.

"He told you what?! You've been using the traitor to spy on me? If you wanted to-"

"No! I have not been using him to spy on you! Now would you shut up and listen to me? I am trying to tell you something here!" Bulma spat in frustration. Vegeta grunted in irritation, crossing his arms tightly as his tension built listening to this woman. He seriously resented having to listen to her. Bulma groaned and rubbed her eyebrow, then rolled her eyes as she continued speaking.

"I just wanted to say that I am proud of you, Vegeta. Over the past year, I know you've been…better. You haven't resorted to a life of crime again." Bulma said proudly and emotionally. Vegeta scoffed at the appraisal.

"Please, woman. How could I possibly work as a criminal with Kakarot and all the other cops up my ass all year? I didn't have much of a choice, now did I?" Vegeta looked away and frowned deeply as he spoke, refusing to meet Bulma's eyes. She smiled knowingly at him, causing him to look in her direction as he sensed her eyes on him.

"I still haven't forgiven you for Trunks. It hurts to even say his name, and I need you to know how I feel about that." Bulma said forcefully, causing Vegeta to raise his eyebrows in surprise. Why would she come here to reinforce that, unless… "But, I wanted to see if…I still love you Vegeta. Do you think there might still be a chance for us to work things out?" Vegeta frowned deeply, disbelieving of what Bulma was saying. Even if a year has passed, how could she so willingly propose reconciliation? She was solidly against it a year ago. It seemed certain to have no chances of mending back then.

"Why are you doing this?" Vegeta asked suspiciously. Bulma frowned at his question, clearly offended.

"Why do you think I'm doing it?" She asked with a scornful expression. Vegeta waited. He would wait patiently, if she insisted on being stubborn. He stared at her, she stared at him, her expression changing as she finally realized he had no intentions of answering that question. She sighed heavily, finally relenting. "A few weeks after I left you, Vegeta," Bulma glanced back at her car, "I found out I was pregnant." Bulma frowned and looked down at the ground while Vegeta absorbed that information. He raised an eyebrow and curiously trailed his eyes to where Bulma had been glancing several times during their conversation. He gasped when he caught sight of a car seat in her backseat. He looked at Bulma to catch her following his gaze, then meeting his eyes with a heartfelt smile.

"What are you saying?" Vegeta asked slowly as he narrowed his eyes at Bulma. She stared into his eyes, knowing he knew exactly what she was saying.

"Her name is Bulla. She's three months old now." Bulma glanced over her shoulder again with a smile. "Sleeping, if you want to take a look." Vegeta eyed Bulma warily, but slowly approached the passenger side of the car. He kept his eyes on Bulma, uncertain if he really wanted to feed into this any longer. She gave an assuring nod, encouraging him to look at her prided creation. Vegeta turned to the car, glancing through the rear passenger window to see the sleeping baby.

Damn. She was perfect. As she lay in her car seat, sleeping peacefully, Vegeta could not wrap his mind around how beautiful that baby was. And he didn't even care for babies. Hell, when Trunks was a baby, he hardly looked at the kid. But this one…she looked like a carbon copy of her mother. The same beautiful shade of silky blue hair, the same fair tone of skin, the same nose, even the same expression as she slept. This was definitely Bulma's baby. He looked at Bulma, who was watching him intently.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Bulma asked, knowing from the expression she caught on Vegeta's face that he certainly agreed. He grunted readily in reply, his approving tone answer enough for Bulma. Vegeta stepped back from the car, eyeing Bulma carefully.

"So, she's mine?" Vegeta asked rhetorically, already knowing that was Bulma's purpose in mentioning the baby. She nodded in reply, though she knew as well that he did not need her answer.

"So, do you think we can give it a try? I'm willing to make it work, for her. A girl needs her father in her life, Vegeta. And I think after what happened with Trunks, I can expect you to be a better father to her than you ever were to him." Vegeta grunted resentfully at the reference to his mistakes before casting another glance at the sleeping baby through the car window, who was just beginning to stir from her sleep.

"You knew who I was when we met, Bulma. You can't expect me to change everything for you now." Vegeta said, a lack of conviction in his voice as he watched those little blue eyes fluttering open.

"Yes. You were a criminal, a killer, and a monster, among other things. You were abusive and cold. That's who you _were_, Vegeta. I don't need you to change now. I just need you to promise you will be there for us. Can you do that?" Bulma enticed to him with her question, her monologue reaching Vegeta deeply as he stared at her loving, pleading eyes. He heaved a heavy sigh as he glanced at the baby, then met Bulma's eyes again. What he wanted was an obvious choice. But did they really need him in their lives? Could he really be all that Bulma saw in him?

He smirked proudly as he realized the answer to that. He would never forget who he was, and he would never back down from a challenge. He turned to Bulma, her face lighting up as she recognized his determined smirk. She laughed victoriously as he pulled her tightly into his arms, kissing her deeply. It had been too long. Far too long since he felt those lips. They kissed for quite a while, not caring who might see them on the street as their tongues danced together and their arms wrapped around each other's forms. Bulma pulled away finally when Bulla began to whimper from inside the car, and she opened the door, crawling over the seat to tend to the baby. Vegeta glanced out at the street as Bulma did so, hearing some doors slamming shut on a nearby truck.

Vegeta looked through the rear window of the truck, smirking with sinister glee when he recognized the face inside. An officer headed to the front of the car, climbing into the driver's seat and muttering something into his walkie as he slammed the door shut and the engine started. The man inside the truck recognized Vegeta, frowning furiously towards the free man as he was hauled off with the roar of an engine, clearly chained and miserable over where he was headed. It felt so good to win. Vegeta wasn't sure which the best part of the day was. The resolution with Bulma, the discovery of a daughter, or the expression on Frieza's face when his ugly mug was carted off to prison. Either way, as he climbed into the car with Bulma and Bulla, Vegeta went home knowing this was an incredible ending to the day. Hell, it was an incredible ending to a year that had been overly stressful, and incredibly life-changing.


End file.
